909

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FEATURED ARTICLES
6
SPRING SUMMER
SOUL SEASON
IN MANALI INDIA
Nosson Avrohom
16
R YAAKOV ELBERG AH
Avrohom Rainitz
20
I RETURNED WHOLE IN
BODY BUT NOT IN SOUL
N Friedman
32
RISKING HIS LIFE FOR A
FELLOW JEW
T Maidanchek
40
THE CUCUMBERS
ROSE UP AND HIT THE
GARDENER
Rabbi Yaakov Shmuelevitz
20
CONTENTS
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
M.M. Hendel
HEBREW EDITOR:
Rabbi S.Y. Chazan
editorH@beismoshiach.org
ENGLISH EDITOR:
Boruch Merkur
editor@beismoshiach.org
WEEKLY COLUMNS
4 Dvar Malchus
28 Moshiach & Geula
29 Mivtzaim Story
35 Parsha Thought
38 Tzivos Hashem
16
6
909_bm_eng.indd 3 2013-12-30 12:08:24 PM
DVAR MALCHUS
BASI LGANI
5714
Beis Moshiach presents the maamer the
Rebbe MHM delivered on Yud Shvat 5714, in
accordance with the custom established by
the Rebbe to review each year a section of the
Rebbe Rayatzs maamer Basi LGani of 5710.
This year we focus on the fourth section of the
profound and foundational chassidic discourse.
Part 4
Translated by Boruch Merkur
THE WORLD IS 613, BECAUSE THE SOUL
IS 613, BECAUSE THE BODY IS 613
5. The above will be brought to light through
the analysis of the verse, For the portion of G-d is
His nation; Yaakov is the rope of His inheritance
(Haazinu 32:9). The two parts of this verse refer to
two different aspects of the soul: For the portion
of G-d is His nation is one aspect and Yaakov is
the rope of His inheritance is another.
My revered father in-law, the Rebbe, in the
maamer of 5710, interprets the latter part of the
verse, Yaakov is the rope of His inheritance, as
follows. The soul of man is a rope that connects
him to G-dliness, a rope whose one end is tied
above and the other is tied below. The soul
connects the person below, in the physical world,
with his spiritual source and place of origin above.
The Rebbe goes on to explain that the soul is
a rope that is entwined with 613 strings, meaning
that it possesses 613 soul-powers. The reason for
this particular composition is as our Sages say, A
man is obligated to say, For my sake the world
was created (Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5, 37a, end):
World olam alludes to helem concealment,
hiding, referring to the Tzimtzum HaRishon, the
Initial Focusing and Containment of the revelation
of G-dliness. Although the Tzimtzum HaRishon
is the root of all concealments [the concealment
of G-d that enables the possibility for evil], it was
created for the sake of man in order that he may
correct it by refining and purifying it. Since man is
composed of 248 limbs and organs, as well as 365
sinews, totaling 613, his soul also possesses 613
powers. (To note the innovative concept presented
in the maamer that it is on account of the human
anatomy being composed of 613 parts that the soul
possesses 613 powers [and not vice-versa].) And
since the entirety of Hishtalshlus was created for
the sake of man [to correct, using his 613 soul-
powers], all the levels of Hishtalshlus also number
613.
The Rebbe continues in the maamer that the
613 Mitzvos are dependent upon them [the body
and soul of man, which both number 613]. Thus,
the metaphor of the rope Yaakov is the rope of
His inheritance takes on another interpretation,
referring [not only to the soul but also] to Mitzvos,
which number 613. The two interpretations of rope
in this verse complement each other: Since man,
for whose sake the world was created (beginning
with the Tzimtzum HaRishon), is of a form that is
quantified by the number 613, therefore, also the
Mitzvos the pathways, channels, and hamshachos
through which man corrects the world (beginning
with the Tzimtzum HaRishon and below) are
also numbered 613.
Now, the rope of Mitzvos is composed of 613
strands; each Mitzva is an individual strand. When
a person commits a sin, rachmana litzlan, (only)
a single strand (albeit the entire essence of that
strand) is broken and severed, but the rope as a
4 8l5 HO5MlACM 2 Shvat 5774
909_bm_eng.indd 4 2013-12-30 12:08:25 PM
whole remains intact. Those sins, however, that are
punishable by soul excision or capital punishment
pertain to the general connection of the soul with
its source and root above. Therefore, even average
people, the ignorant, and the shallow are fearful
and tremulous about violating them not on
account of intellectual appreciation, but because of
a natural, ingrained fear of sin (as discussed above
in Section 4), feeling that the general connection
of the person below with the source of his vitality
above is liable to be compromised (as discussed in
the maamer).
However, on account of the nature of the world
(olam, meaning concealment, helem, beginning
from the Tzimtzum HaRishon), which is the
general concept of the Seider Hishtalshlus, wherein
Tohu precedes Tikkun (as above, Section 4), it
is possible for a ruach shtus (which is the vehicle
of the Animal Soul, whose source is Tohu, which
precedes Tikkun) to cover over the truth even with
regard to sins that are punishable by soul excision
and capital punishment. The ruach shtus makes it
appear that one maintains his Judaism and remains
connected with the source of his vitality despite
transgressing these severe prohibitions. This folly
is described in the verse, he will bless himself
in his heart, saying, I will have peace, even if I
follow my hearts desires, even going so far as
saying, in order to add the [punishment for ones]
unintentional sins to that of [his] intentional sins
(Nitzavim 29:18), intending thereby [i.e., through
sinning] to draw down to himself additional vitality
(see Kuntres UMaayan, maamer 10, Ch. 1).
WE WEAR THE SAME CROWNS
All of this discussion derived from, Yaakov
is the rope of His inheritance only describes the
hierarchy within Seider Hishtalshlus. However,
the first part of the verse, For the portion of G-d
is His nation Ki cheilek Havaya amo, alludes
to a much more sublime dynamic, as it pertains
to a dimension of the soul that totally surpasses
the natural order, transcending the entire Seider
Hishtalshlus.
In general, the name Havaya, which means,
haya, hoveh, vyihyeh kechad He was, is, and
shall be as one (Zohar III 257b, end), [refers
to a level of G-dliness that] is beyond Hishtalshlus
[namely, atzmus, the essence of G-d]. The
significance of the phrase, Cheilek Havaya the
portion of G-d, referring to this higher aspect of
the soul, is that it is speaking about a portion of
the essence, of which it is said, The essence, when
you grasp a part of it, you grasp its entirety (as in
the saying of the Baal Shem Tov). Since Cheilek
Havaya amo the portion of G-d is His nation, a
veritable portion of G-d above, literally, the Jewish
soul is, therefore, one with G-ds essence.
This concept is illustrated in the teaching of
the Mezritcher Maggid on the Midrash (VaYikra
Rabba 24:9), [Scripture enjoins the Jewish
people to] Be holy. Yachol kamoni? You might
think that the intent here is that you [the Jewish
people] are being commanded to be as holy as Me
[i.e., G-d himself]. Thus, the Torah teaches, for I
am holy kdushasi lmaala mikdushaschem
[translated according to the simple reading as] My
holiness is more exalted than yours. (Kdushasi
the aspect of I am holy, is more exalted than
your holiness the aspect of Be holy. This is
understood from an allegory of royal subjects
presenting the king with three crowns, etc. The
king places one on his own head (I am holy) and
the other two upon the heads of the Jewish people.
(Ibid 24:8)): Shkdushaso lmaala (His exalted
holiness) hakol hu mikdushaschem (is entirely
from your holiness).
The inference here in the Mezritcher Maggids
teaching is that he interprets the words Yachol
kamoni as not being stated rhetorically, as a
question or as a declaration of its implausibility [as
if to say: obviously your holiness cannot possibly
approach Mine!], but as a statement of fact [i.e.,
you indeed possess the same sanctity as Me,
G-d]. To that end, the Maggid brings support for
learning the Midrash in this manner from what
is written, for I am holy kdushasi lmaala
(hi) mikdushaschem My exalted holiness is
[derived] from your holiness.
(To be continued beH)

The inference here in the
Mezritcher Maggids teaching
is that he interprets the words Yachol
kamoni as not being stated rhetorically,
as a question or as a declaration of its
implausibility [as if to say: obviously
your holiness cannot possibly approach
Mine!], but as a statement of fact [i.e.,
you indeed possess the same sanctity as
Me, G-d].
Issue 909 8l5 HO5MlACM 5
909_bm_eng.indd 5 2013-12-30 12:08:26 PM
SPRING
SUMMER
SOUL
SEASON
IN MANALI INDIA
Numerous Jews and Israelis visit Manali, a
captivating tourist site in India. * The shluchim R
Yaakov Shatz and R Shneur Pugatch and their
wives are there to help them.
By Nosson Avrohom
M
anali, a city in
northern India, is a
popular tourist spot
for Israelis touring
the Far East. Manali lies on the
banks of the Manalsu River which
divides it into two parts, the old
village on one side which attracts
most of the tourists and is where
the Chabad house is located, and
the new section which is more
modern.
In the past, Manali, which is
surrounded by the Himalayan
Mountains, was a quiet, pastoral
place. In recent years, however,
it has become a bustling tourist
area. In the summer it is visited
by thousands of tourists, but
in the winter, due to the harsh
weather, only the locals remain.
The snow often piles up two
meters high and the cold is fierce.
The Chabad house is open
only during the tourist season.
The season begins before Pesach
and ends about two weeks after
Sukkos. As in other Indian cities,
avoda zara is rampant, but, unlike
other cities, there are hardly any
ashrams. This city is the starting
point for dangerous treks in the
magnificent mountains or for
those seeking serenity.
The old part of Manali is
built on a mountain slope, and
SHLICHUS
909_bm_eng.indd 6 2013-12-30 12:08:28 PM
hundreds of Israeli tourists stay
there every summer. There you
can find restaurants and guest
houses, along with stands selling
T-shirts, packs, shawls, scarves,
painted silks and handiwork
to tourists. The Chabad house
stands out. It is a beautiful
three story building with a hall
for events that can contain 200
seats, a kosher restaurant, a
magnificent shul, a mikva, a
library, and residential quarters
for the shluchim.
The Chabad house in Manali
is one of the biggest and nicest
Chabad houses in India and the
East, a jewel of a place where
intense outreach is done around
the clock.
Until today, I dont know
how it happened, admits one of
the shluchim, Yaakov Shatz. The
Rebbe wanted a mikva and we
looked for a good spot to build
a mikva and found the shell of
a three story building. By divine
providence, the building began
to take shape. Its beautiful and
spacious. Every Jewish tourist or
Israeli who comes to Manali is
exposed to Chabads work.
CHABAD HOUSE
MOST OF THE YEAR
It is five years now that the
shluchim, R Yaakov Shatz and
R Shneur Pugatch have been
working here. The two of them
built up the activities in the city
from the ground up. Previously,
there had been a Chabad house
run by R Boruch Shinhav. These
two dynamic young men restored
the work of Chabad to its original

The monk wrote that he was studying Chassidic
works and if he concluded that Judaism is the
true path, he would remove his monks robe and travel to
770 and become religiously observant.
Motzaei Yom Kippur
at the Chabad house
in Manali
909_bm_eng.indd 7 2013-12-30 12:08:31 PM
grandeur and even surpassed it.
We arrived six years ago on
Merkos Shlichus after our year
on Kvutza. I spent some time
in Rishikesh and then went to
Kasol where R Yoel Caplin and
R Danny Winderbaum are.
Kasol is also located in
northern India. Time and again
we heard from tourists about
what a pity it is that there is no
Chabad house in Manali where
there is a large concentration
of Israeli tourists. This came
up many times until we decided
to do something about it. We
thought that for the first season,
at least, we would provide kosher
food for Jews who come to
Manali. Many traditional Jews
have been visiting India lately and
so we decided to open a kosher
restaurant, while looking into
the possibility of broadening the
activities in the city.
With the help of the
shluchim in Kasol, we rented
a small building in Manali that
used to be a grocery store. We
brought chickens from Kasol.
After a few days of arranging
things, we announced the
opening of a restaurant. Many
young people visited the place
and they didnt just eat; we got
into conversations about faith
that lasted late into the night.
On Shabbos we arranged
meals and in a place that could
hold fifty people, a hundred and
more squeezed in. There were
times that dozens of people sat
outside and waited for a place.
We started a shiur in Tanya and
the Rebbes sichos. We saw that
there was an urgent need for
ongoing outreach in this city.
The shluchim then prepared
for the next season:
We wrote to the Rebbe and
opened to a letter in which the
Rebbe wrote about a Chanukas
Habayis and blessed us with
success and expansion. We went
to Manali and began looking for a
suitable building for a permanent
Chabad house. After a few days
of looking, along with exhausting
negotiations, we found a large,
three story building that was a
shell without walls. The owner
agreed to rent it to us for a
long time on condition that we
renovate it at our expense.
G-D LOVES YOU
The work at the Chabad
house in Manali, as in the rest
of the sub-continent, is divided,
from a shlichus perspective, into
two main areasmaterial and
spiritual.
We supply kosher food,
help extricate the injured or the
dead, G-d forbid, and help those
who are sick. We have good
connections with the police and
we help Israelis who get into
trouble. On the spiritual side, we
give shiurim in Chassidus and
halacha, and have one-on-one
talks with the tourists. We also
provide a mikva, and have tfillos
whenever we can get a minyan.
R Pugatch relates:
When we arrived here, we
wrote to the Rebbe about the
building we wanted to rent. The
Rebbes answer had to do with
the need to build a mikva. We
decided that the place we would

I could not believe what I was hearing. I told
him where I was and about the answer we had
gotten from the Rebbe about building a mikva. So the
frst donation to the mikva, a very large sum, came
unexpectedly.
Setting up the dining room for Shabbos
SHLICHUS
909_bm_eng.indd 8 2013-12-30 12:08:33 PM
take would have to be one that
would enable us to build a mikva.
After we rented the building, we
called R Boaz Lerner, an expert
in mikvaos, and he guided us in
how to start building the mikva.
We did not have the money for it
but we went lchatchilla aribber.
After a few days, a wealthy
Jew from Manhattan called me.
I had gotten to know him during
my years on Kvutza. He had
gotten very involved in Judaism
and once a month he made it a
habit to visit 770 and write to the
Rebbe through the Igros Kodesh.
He disbursed his maaser based
on the answer he opened to. He
told me that he had just written
to the Rebbe and the answer was
about a mikva, but he had no
idea which mikva to contribute
toward.
I could not believe what I
was hearing. I told him where I
was and about the answer we
had gotten from the Rebbe about
building a mikva. So the first
donation to the mikva, a very
large sum, came unexpectedly.
We felt that the Rebbe wanted
the mikva and made sure that we
would get the money for it.
Within a year and a half the
mikva was built and operational.
Along with the mikva the other
parts of the Chabad house were
built too. The construction
itself took a year, in the course
of which there was another
incredible hashgacha pratis.
During the winter, when
we were in Eretz Yisroel, we
made an agreement with the
contractor that he would start
building and would take pictures
of every part he built. He would
send the pictures to us for our
approval and we would send him
the money. We estimated that the
work would be completed by the
end of the winter. As is known,
India has its own pace and
when we arrived in the summer,
they were still in the middle of
construction. We found ourselves
supervising the construction.
In the meantime, local
businessmen had begun
returning to the city and opening
their stores for the tourist season.
They were angry at us because
our big building blocked part of
the scenery. They made a lot of
problems for us, did not let the
trucks in to the construction
site, and threatened the workers.
They claimed it prevented the
tourists from going to them but
we kept going until the building
was finished. Then we held a big
Chanukas Habayis.
In the middle of the
farbrengen, one of the
neighbors who had opposed the
construction walked in and said
candidly, It seems G-d loves
you. You finished right before
the law goes into effect in which
you could not build. We knew
nothing about this. Basically, if
we had continued building, we
would have been fined heavily.
They were hoping we wouldnt
finish on time and then they
would be able to cause us even
more problems, but it didnt go
their way.
DIVINE PROVIDENCE
IS MORE APPARENT IN
LOWLY PLACES
What characterizes the
shlichus in Manali, as well as
throughout the Far East, are the
astounding stories of neshamos
and hashgacha pratis that seem
more prevalent there. Although
these are the lowest places from
a spiritual standpoint, Hashems
providence is felt more acutely.
There was a nice fellow by
the name of Raz, a kibbutznik
from the north. He was a quiet
sort and spent several months
in Manali, recalled R Shatz.
I would often meet him on the
street. I would see him standing
opposite the Chabad house but
he always refused to come in.
For a while I noticed that he
would come every day and stand
opposite the Chabad house and
stare at the Rebbes picture, then
continue on his way. I decided
to confront him and asked, Raz,
why do you look at the picture?
He said, I am not religious and
was taught to hate religious
people, but your Rebbes face
calms me. I cant explain it
logically, but thats the reality.
I was quite surprised by
909_bm_eng.indd 9 2013-12-30 12:08:35 PM
this and thought, if thats the
case, Im not giving up on him.
Some more weeks went by and
his opposition weakened, then
melted, and he finally agreed to
come in and look around, but
just for a short time. He came in,
glanced around and ran out.
One Erev Shabbos I invited
him for Kabbalas Shabbos. I
described the atmosphere and
promised that he would enjoy
it. To my surprise he agreed to
come and indeed, he was very
impressed. If I had known
that thats the way Shabbos is
celebrated, I would have joined
earlier, he said.
We decided to strike while
the iron was hot and I invited
him for Shabbos morning and he
came. That Shabbos there was
a minyan and he was part of the
minyan. I knew that he had never
had an aliya to the Torah and I
decided to give him one. At the
beginning of the Torah reading I
announced, Yaamod Raz ben?
He said, Raz Menachem. The
name Raz is typically Israeli, but
Menachem?
During the meal I asked him
about this but he didnt know the
answer. On Motzaei Shabbos
he called his mother and asked
why he was given the name
Menachem. She was surprised
that she had never told him the
reason. There is a rabbi in New
York called the Lubavitcher
Rebbe and it was thanks to him
that you were born. We did not
have children for many years
and the doctors gave up and
then we met someone who had
gotten involved with Chabad and
he wrote to the Rebbe with us.
We received a bracha and that is
how you came to be born. As an
expression of our appreciation,
we named you for him.
Raz was shaken up by this
discovery. A number of things
suddenly connected for him.
He became a regular guest of
ours. When he returned to Eretz
Yisroel he committed to keep
Shabbos and to learn Chassidus
and today he is in the process of
deepening his connection with
his Jewish roots.
We have endless stories
of neshamos. There is an old
American Jew who lives in a
distant village and comes to us
only on Yom Kippur. He speaks
English with a Yiddish inflection.
He is usually not interested
in talking. He comes at the
beginning of Yom Kippur, davens
and leaves right after Havdala.
Last Yom Kippur we actually
got into a conversation and

To be in a primitive place for half a year with long
electrical blackouts, when you are forced to live by
candlelight and you have a year old child, is exceptionally
diffcult. Yet this is tempered by the enormity of the
shlichus; Jews who accept the yoke of mitzvos, Jews who
are exposed to Judaism for the frst time.
SHLICHUS
909_bm_eng.indd 10 2013-12-30 12:08:36 PM
he promised to come on other
holidays during the year. He is a
riddle to us.
There are those who think
they are not accomplishing,
but they have no idea to what
extent every good action has an
effect, even when the results are
not readily apparent. Ill give
you an example. This year, a
young Israeli girl with a Russian
background came here. She
came every day to the restaurant,
sometimes twice a day. She
seemed distant from Torah. One
day, she came over to ask some
questions about kashrus.
I asked her whether she kept
kashrus and she said yes. When
she was a little girl, her parents
moved from Russia and they put
her in a Chabad preschool in
Bat Yam. She went on to public
school from there but two things
stayed with her: Shabbos and
kashrus. In her parents home
they mix meat and milk but she
has her own dishes. The family
respects her choice. She herself
doesnt know why she insists on
keeping this, but thats the way
she is.
WILL THE MONK END UP IN
770?
On Shabbos and Yomim
Tovim we sometimes get a
hundred people at the Chabad
house. In order to run things
smoothly we need help. Every
season there are some Israelis
who take a special liking to the
Chabad house and lend a hand to
the shluchim.
Theres a nice guy named
Ronen, who is warm to Jewish
things and loves the atmosphere
and life in India. He comes to
Manali every summer and helps
out
He doesnt dress like a
Lubavitcher, but his pnimius
is that of a Chassid. He knows
many sichos of the Rebbe and can
answer all the difficult questions.
He knows how to speak the
language of the people who
come here and many people were
niskarev through him. When
he comes to town he becomes a
member of the household. When
he came to Manali the last time
he told me a remarkable thing.
He spent time in the south of
India and then took a train
heading north, to us. Its a week-
long trip, traveling day and night.
At one of the stations a
Tibetan monk got on, wearing
his orange robes and with their
distinctive hairstyle, and sat down
facing him. He could see that the
monk was a Westerner and not
a local. Ronen, a typical direct
Israeli, started talking to him.
The monk asked him whether he
belonged to the Jewish people.
When he said yes, the man said
he was originally from England
and although his father was a
British gentile, his mother was
Jewish. He spent years running
away from his Judaism. This is
why he left Britain and was living
in India for so many years until
he became a monk.
Ronen took the opportunity
to lace into him with some
Jewish rebuke. The monk
R Yaakov Shatz in the entrance to the shul The main entrance to the Chabad house
909_bm_eng.indd 11 2013-12-30 12:08:38 PM
finally conceded he had pangs
of conscience and said for
a long time now he also felt
disappointed in his monastic
choice. For many years he truly
believed he had found the truth,
but lately he discovered that
what he believed in is full of lies.
They spoke for hours and before
parting, Ronen gave him his
email address and suggested that
he do an online search about the
Lubavitcher Rebbe. Only he can
get you out of the mud youre in,
he concluded.
A few days passed and the
monk sent Ronen an email with
a picture of the Rebbe and asked
whether he was referring to this
man. Ronen said yes. A few weeks
went by and Ronen showed me
their correspondence. The monk
had written that he was sitting
and studying Chassidic works
and if he concluded that Judaism
is the true path, he would remove
his monks robe and travel to
770 and become religiously
observant.
FROM THE WORLD OF
AVODA ZARA TO THE
WORLD OF THE YESHIVA
Five years of outreach
in Manali produced many
mekuravim including some who
went all the way.
Theres a fellow by the name
of Chein, said R Shatz, who
came to tour in India and got
deep into the local idol worship.
The first time he entered the
Chabad house he was holding a
stick with various images on it.
He was convinced he had been
given powers to be a celebrated
leader who prophesied. I wont
forget that first conversation I
had with him. He so believed the
nonsense that he heard that he
thought he could easily reach the
level of Moshe Rabbeinu.
We spoke for several hours
and debunked one by one, all
the nonsense that he believed.
We explained to him why what
he believed was idol worship
and why he, as a Jew, was far
more elevated than all the avoda
zara that he bowed to. When we
saw that he was immersed in the
false philosophies, we dropped
the debate and decided to learn
together in the belief that a
little light would dispel a lot of
darkness. It took time but to his
credit let it be said that he came
every day to learn. Little by little,
he dropped his false beliefs and
began to get involved in Judaism.
From the Chabad house
he went back to Eretz Yisroel
and went to a Chabad yeshiva.
This year he returned to India,
this time in order to help on
shlichus. It is still hard for him
to wear a hat and jacket, but with
some more months spent at the
Chabad house, that will come
too. If you met him today, you
would be sure he was born to a
Lubavitcher family.
There are others like him who
became Chassidim. R Shneur
Pugatch has an interesting story
as follows:
There was a fellow who
came to Manali in order to
undertake a challenging hike.
The first Shabbos he came to
us for a Shabbos meal and, as
is our practice, we connected
everything we said to Moshiach.
I spoke about the Rebbe being
the Nasi Hador with whom we
can consult through the Igros
Kodesh. This fellow, who came
from a home that was far from
Jewish practice, loved the idea
and wanted to write to the Rebbe.
He didnt wait till Sunday;
that Motzaei Shabbos he came
to the Chabad house to write
his letter. The Rebbes answer
that he opened to had to do with
the mitzva of tzitzis. He took it
seriously and took tzitzis from us
and began wearing them. He still
did not wear a yarmulke and he
had long hair, but he wore tzitzis.
To whoever pointed out the lack
of consistency to him he proudly
said, Just like Indians have their
way of dress, Jews wear tzitzis.
Two years later, when I
was in Eretz Yisroel, one of our
donors asked me to come to
Tzfas because he was donating a
Torah to a shul there. I asked the
hanhala of the yeshiva to send a
minyan of bachurim to dance and
bring simcha to the event.
At the beginning of the
event, a bachur came over to me
and asked whether I recognized
him. I looked at him but did not
know who he was. He looked
like a typical Lubavitcher bachur,
with a beard, hat, and jacket. He
laughed and asked me whether
I remembered the guy with the
tzitzis. Then it hit me. I simply
couldnt get over it ...
***
There are many young people
who, although they dont turn
into Chassidim, commit to some
mitzva or another that they keep
all their lives. R Pugatch relates:
Theres a fellow who came
from a home that was very distant
from everything Jewish. He
started by attending our Shabbos
meals and farbrengens and then
came to the shiurim. One time
we asked each person attending
to commit to some mitzva or
good deed in order to hasten the
Geula. We were surprised when
he decided to commit to putting
on tfillin.
One day later he went
with friends on a three week
motorcycling trip. He still did not
have his own tfillin so I agreed
to lend him mine. They were
supposed to return in three weeks
but first showed up over a month
SHLICHUS
909_bm_eng.indd 12 2013-12-30 12:08:39 PM
later with an incredible story.
He said it wasnt enough for
him that he put on tfillin; every
morning, before heading out,
the entire group put on tfillin!
They experienced miracles and
hashgacha pratis on the way and
they attributed it to the mitzva
of tfillin. One day he was riding
down a narrow road when a bus
suddenly appeared opposite him.
He veered to the side, as much as
he could. When the bus passed
he found himself flying off the
side of the road and rolling down
a cliff forty meters high. He said
he screamed Shma Yisroel and
was sure his life was over.
He found himself in a tree
with the motorcycle thrown a
few meters off to the side and
the tfillin peeking through from
the bag that ripped. He rubbed
his eyes and checked himself and
saw that he was not injured. The
Indians who got off the bus could
not believe their eyes when they
saw him climbing back up. He
said he knew it was in the merit
of the tfillin that he had been
saved.
SOULS I HAVE MADE
This year something special
happened that made waves
among the tourists and caused
a kiddush sheim Lubavitch,
recalled R Shatz. In recent
years there has been a trend in
which older people and retirees
come to tour India. A few months
ago, a senior citizen came from
Eretz Yisroel and immediately
connected with our Chabad
house. She would come almost
every day and help out.
One day she received a
frightening call from Eretz Yisroel
that her brother had had a stroke
and was in critical condition. She
came to the Chabad house in
hysterics and we had to calm her
down. Why is G-d taking him?
she screamed. We suggested
that she write to the Rebbe. The
answer she opened to was clear.
The Rebbe wrote, regarding the
health situation, it was not as bad
as they thought and it was only a
test. The Rebbe wished a speedy
recovery.
We read it and reassured
her. We explained that according
to this letter, there was no reason
to worry and all would be fine,
with G-ds help. This was on a
Thursday. On Friday they told
her that the doctors said that the
situation was critical and there
was imminent danger to his life
and she should return home to
say goodbye to him. Despite what
she was told, we remained firm
and advised her to stay in India.
It was a big test for us too, as
we stuck to what the Rebbe said
despite the reality which seemed
exactly the opposite.
On Shabbos, lively
discussions ensued among the
tourists about this. Many of them
were curious to see what would
develop. On Motzaei Shabbos
she called and was astounded to
hear that on Shabbos, a sudden
change in his condition had taken
place. He was completely out of
danger and had awoken from his
coma. She told all the tourists
about this miracle.
Many of them wanted to
write to the Rebbe through the
Igros Kodesh. By the way, she
had committed to convincing
her brother to put on tfillin
every morning. She told me
afterward, in a conversation
from Eretz Yisroel, that when he
was released from the hospital
she told him about what she had
gone through and he agreed to
start putting on tfillin.
Here is another story. There
was a girl who came to Manali
who was confused about how to
proceed in life. She had come to
India to find herself. She grew
up in a typical home in Haifa, far
from mitzva observance, and as
part of her search for meaning
in life she decided to visit the
Chabad house and listen to what
Judaism has to offer. For the
first time she heard about basic
mitzvos in Judaism. I remember
that even we were taken aback
over how a Jew born and raised
in Eretz Yisroel did not know the
most basic things.
After every shiur with my
wife, she would be so inspired by
Learning a sicha with a backpacker. In the background, a tourist puts on tfllin
909_bm_eng.indd 13 2013-12-30 12:08:40 PM
what they learned. One day she
heard me talking to a tourist and
telling him about writing to the
Rebbe through the Igros Kodesh.
She asked my wife about this and
then said she wanted to write too.
She took it seriously and wrote a
long letter about everything that
had occurred to her in recent
years and the philosophy by
which she had been living her
life, a philosophy which blew up
in her face.
The answer she opened to
was astounding. In a long and
comprehensive letter, the Rebbe
described the mistake behind the
kibbutz system of education and
answered all her questions. A
few days later she was supposed
to fly back to Eretz Yisroel and
together with my wife, arranged
to join a Chassidic seminary in
Yerushalayim. She is presently
making significant strides toward
a life of Torah and mitzvos. She
recently spoke to my wife and
told her excitedly about how
greatly Chassidus changed her
life and how the Rebbe had
shown her the true purpose in
life.
In our second year in
Manali, said R Pugatch,
we went down to the river in
order to immerse dishes that
we bought for the restaurant.
Some European non-Jews were
standing there and one of them
came over to us and said that the
picture of the man on the front
of the Chabad house warmed
his heart. Every day he looked
at the picture because it calmed
him. I told him that it was the
Lubavitcher Rebbe. If you are
not Jewish, I said, at least
commit to the Seven Noachide
Laws, and I explained to him
and his friends what that is about.
He laughed and said that
although he wasnt Jewish, his
mother was Jewish. Well, in that
case, you are Jewish too! I said
and immediately offered to make
him a bar mitzva with tfillin.
He was taken aback and it was
his gentile friends who liked the
idea and convinced him to listen
to us. We explained what tfillin
are and the inner significance for
every Jew. He was excited and
on the spot we arranged to travel
together to the little hut he lived
in where he would put on tfillin
for the first time in his life. Then
he would celebrate together with
his friends.
Thats what we did. He put
on tfillin and then he danced
with his friends. In this hut there
was also an Israeli girl from Tel
Aviv who, for some reason, had
joined this group of Europeans.
When she saw this outburst
of Jewish pride, she was very
moved and began visiting the
Chabad house almost every day
and became very interested in
Judaism. Today, she is in Tel Aviv
and we are in touch with her as
she takes her first steps toward a
life of mitzvos. Thanks to those
gentiles we were mekarev both
him and her.
MOSHIACH CENTER STAGE
There is no need to ask
these shluchim about what they
do regarding Moshiach, as
everything about the Chabad
house shouts out chai vkayam.
Moshiach is the main thing,
the beginning, middle and end,
says R Shatz. Its the most
interesting topic to the tourists.
People live Moshiach even if
they still dont know the Rebbes
sichos on the subject. Many
Tourists learning Torah in the Chabad house
Learning Chitas: on the right, R Yaakov Shatz and on the left, with R Shneur Pugatch
SHLICHUS
909_bm_eng.indd 14 2013-12-30 12:08:43 PM
people go to India solely for the
purpose of getting answers to the
meaning of life. They seek truth
and the truth to us Chassidim is
Moshiach.
Those who say that talking
about Moshiach turns people off
are, apparently, people who have
not been involved in hafatza in
many years. When Moshiach is
properly explained, it is accepted.
People quickly realize that Yechi
is not an empty slogan; nor is it
a hope or a wish. It is a sincere
belief that the Rebbe will redeem
us. Every question that is asked
here in the Chabad house has
an answer anchored in Jewish-
halachic sources and not merely
in Chassidishe hergesh.
As for plans for the future, my
question brings a hint of a smile
to the faces of the shluchim:
We built a nice building and
now we need to use the space
to the maximum effect, said R
Pugatch. R Shatz added that
their plan is to start a yeshiva
program in which miskarvim
will learn Nigleh and Chassidus
fulltime and be provided with full
room and board.
In conclusion, I asked the
shluchim about the difficulties in
going on a shlichus like this:
I will give you an honest
answer, said R Shatz. When
we were bachurim and went on
Merkos Shlichus, it was easier.
When married it is harder,
especially for the wife. The
isolation and physical distance
from family is particularly hard
for her. To be in a primitive place
for half a year with long electrical
blackouts, when you are forced
to live by candlelight and you
have a year old child, is really not
easy. Yet this is tempered by the
enormity of the shlichus; Jews
who accept the yoke of mitzvos,
Jews who are exposed to Judaism
for the first time. This provides
tremendous satisfaction.
Heart to heart talks with backpackers in the Chabad house living room
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909_bm_eng.indd 15 2013-12-30 12:08:45 PM
R YAAKOV
ELBERG AH
O
n Friday, 17 Teves,
word spread of the sad
news of the sudden
passing of R Yaakov
Elberg. He was 76.
R Yaakov was born in Kutais
in the Soviet republic of Georgia.
His father R Shabtai had learned
in Yeshivas Tomchei Tmimim
in Lubavitch and then in
underground yeshivos in Poltava
and Charkov.
His father, who learned
shchita and mila in yeshiva, was
a dominant figure in the Jewish
community of Kutais and was
considered the main mohel and
one of the main shochtim in the
city.
R Yaakov was raised to
Ahavas HaTorah. He often spoke
about his fathers diligence in
Torah study. Despite his heavy
work schedule, he did not forego
his learning. Every night, when
he returned from work, he would
sit down to learn until three in the
morning. By six-seven oclock he
was already on his way to shul, a
kilometers walk away.
This chinuch had a
tremendous effect on R Yaakov
and years later, when he became
a successful businessman, he
never neglected his learning or
davening with a minyan. Those
who knew him knew that even
on very busy days, you would
find him in 770 between Mincha
and Maariv. Afterward he would
stay on to learn several regular
shiurim.
Along with love for Torah,
his father also put a lot into
chinuch for Ahavas Yisroel. Their
home was open to all in need
and Chassidim were constantly
coming and going. During
the war, when starvation was
rampant and thousands died of
starvation, they did not always
have food to eat but even during
this difficult period, his parents
never refused to host Chassidim.
During the period of
government persecution, when
many Chassidim escaped from
Russias main cities for Central
Asia, some of them went to
Kutais and would occasionally
visit the Elberg house for a meal.
Among these Chassidim were R
Eliezer Nannes (of Subbota), R
Dovid Skolnik, R Sholom Ber
Notik, R Yechezkel Brod, and
many others.
R Yaakov spent time in
OBITUARY
909_bm_eng.indd 16 2013-12-30 12:08:49 PM
the company of these august
Chassidim. R Yaakov often
said that he cannot forget
those Chassidishe farbrengens
when Chassidim said lchaim
and farbrenged and danced all
night. They were role models of
genuine Chassidim, who devoted
themselves wholeheartedly to the
Rebbes wishes despite all the
tzaros.
When R Yaakov grew older,
his father sent him to learn in a
secret yeshiva along with another
10-15 boys. The KGB once
discovered them and at the last
minute the owners of the house
managed to hide the melamed
in the cellar. The KGB agents
beat the young talmidim and
threatened to imprison them.
That was life in the shadow of the
KGB.
Due to the difficult situation
and government persecution,
the natural feeling of mutual
responsibility which Jews usually
have, became even stronger.
R Yaakov related:
I once traveled to the capitol
on business and I arrived at
the airport on Erev Shabbos in
order to return home. I suddenly
noticed a Jewish man, about 35
years old, with a beard and peios,
who looked at a loss. There was
a small airplane and since many
people wanted to travel, there
was no more room. I always gave
bribes when necessary and got a
place even if a hundred people
remained down below.
When I saw that he did not
know what to do and where he
would spend Shabbos, I went
over to him and said in Russian,
Come over to the side. I want
to talk to you. At first, he was
very nervous since he thought I
belonged to the KGB.
I asked him, Why do
you look worried? Whats the
problem? Can I help you?
After he admitted that he was a
Lubavitcher Chassid, I said to
him that so was I and I asked
him again, What happened? He
told me, I need to get to Kutais
for Shabbos. I said, Give me
your passport. When I saw that
he was afraid to give it to me, I
mentioned the names of some
of the great Chassidim who had
been in our house and said, My
father is also a Chassid.
He was finally convinced

He asked the Rebbe and the Rebbe told him not
to do the operation but instead to go on a diet
and then to get checked again in six months. Needless to
say, in the examination done six months later the problem
was no longer present.
909_bm_eng.indd 17 2013-12-30 12:08:52 PM
and he gave me his passport. I
went to the people in charge and
after bribing them, they gave me
a ticket. When I returned to him
with the ticket he was thrilled
and we traveled together. The
entire time we sat quietly, in fear
of those around us. Years later, I
met him in Crown Heights and
he remembered this incident.
***
In 5732, when a crack opened
in the Iron Curtain, R Yaakov
and his parents immigrated to
Eretz Yisroel. The Rebbe then
invited all the new immigrants
to come to 770 and contributed
toward the cost of the tickets.
After going to the Rebbe, R
Yaakov decided to live in Crown
Heights and merited special
gestures of closeness from the
Rebbe. Having been influenced
by the holy work of his father,
R Yaakov took care of the
members of his community who
immigrated to the US, many of
whom settled in Queens. He saw
to it that a Chabad mikva was
built there under the direction of
R Zalman Shimon Dworkin.
R Yaakov considered himself
a shliach of the Rebbe to Queens.
For a period of time he gave
shiurim there himself and then
brought shluchim to take care
of the spiritual needs of the
community. The members of the
community greatly appreciated
his work on their behalf and
bestowed him with the title of
President of the community.
In one of his first private
audiences with the Rebbe, he
asked for bountiful parnasa. The
Rebbe told him: Give (tzdaka)
and you will be given (from
heaven). R Yaakov, who was
working at the time as a hired
hand barely managed on his
salary. He asked the Rebbe from
where he should take the money
to give to tzdaka. The Rebbe
said: Give from what you have
and Hashem will give you.
Over the years, he bought
yellow cab medallions and was
encouraged to do so nonstop
by the Rebbe. Even during a
period of recession the Rebbe
encouraged him to continue
buying cabs. Buy as many as
you can, said the Rebbe.
R Yaakov gave generously of
his money to tzdaka, especially
to the Rebbes shluchim. He
once said that he cannot stand
aloof as thousands of shluchim
devote themselves to the Rebbe
and he wanted to be a partner
with them. Every so often he
would send hundreds of checks
to shluchim. He made sure that
there were no identifying signs
on the checks and he also sent
the checks through a mail service
located outside of Crown Heights
in order to remain anonymous. In
recent years he gave out close to
$30,000 each year at the Kinus
HaShluchim.
His son Reuven says that his
father made a cheshbon hanefesh
every so often as to whether he
was fulfilling the Rebbes horaa
to give from what you have. He
always tried to add and Hashem
responded in kind. He was very
successful in his business.
His father R Shabtai
OBITUARY
909_bm_eng.indd 18 2013-12-30 12:08:56 PM
His heart was wide open to all
aspects of tzdaka and chesed. He
supported the Kupas Bachurim
that pays for medication for
talmidim who are not well and he
would go into the pharmacy now
and then and pay the Kupas bill.
When a chassan would ask
him for help for his wedding,
he would first wish him a hearty
mazal tov and would then give a
handsome donation. He always
gave a dollar to any poor person
who approached him and on
Friday he gave two dollars, one
for Friday and one for Shabbos.
R Yaakov was privileged
to be among the wealthy men
who donated large sums to the
Rebbe and had special private
audiences. Over the years, he
consulted with the Rebbe about
his business and followed what
the Rebbe told him. Even when
his friends and acquaintances
thought otherwise, he followed
what the Rebbe told him.
About eighteen years ago,
when one of the mosdos in Crown
Heights was in serious financial
trouble which nearly led to its
closing, R Yaakov participated
in a meeting of wealthy men and
the Mara DAsra, R Kalman
Marlow. Although R Yaakov
was soft-spoken by nature, he
stood up and spoke heatedly
about it not being possible that a
school should close due to lack of
money. He announced the large
donation he would be giving,
which was beyond his capabilities
(to the extent that he had to take
out a bank loan in order to fulfill
his pledge to the yeshiva) and this
spurred the other men to make
donations too, which got the
yeshiva back on its feet.
In the 90s he was diagnosed
with a serious respiratory
problem. The top doctors he
consulted with said he would
have to undergo an operation. He
asked the Rebbe and the Rebbe
told him not to do it but to go
on a diet and then to get checked
again in six months. Needless to
say, in the examination done six
months later the problem was no
longer present.
A similar story happened
three years ago. He began to
suffer from severe back pain
and the doctors recommended
surgery. His son Reuven wrote
to the Rebbe and put the letter in
a volume of Igros Kodesh. The
Rebbes answer he opened to had
been sent to a doctor in Eretz
Yisroel who recommended that
a Chassid undergo an operation
and said it was easy and simple.
The Rebbe wrote to this doctor
saying that according to what he
knew, the operation was not that
simple and that new medications
were being discovered for this
problem and therefore he did not
think the operation should be
done.
In accordance with this clear
answer, R Yaakov canceled his
surgery. R Osdoba, member
of the Badatz, referred him to a
doctor who cured him with new
methods without operating.
***
On Friday, after undergoing
medical treatment, his condition
quickly deteriorated and he
passed away. He is survived by
his wife Esther and his children
Reuven, Eliyahu, Sholom, and
a daughter Tamar Pewsner,
grandchildren and great-
grandchildren.
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sgu okugk jhanv lkn ubhcru ubrun ubbust hjh
Rabbi Jacob Schwei
Member of the Rabbinical
Court of Crown Heights
909_bm_eng.indd 19 2013-12-30 12:09:00 PM
I RETURNED
WHOLE IN BODY
BUT NOT IN SOUL
Sergeant Shimon
Cohen, who fought
in the mortar unit
along the Suez Canal,
saw horrifc scenes
which still replay in
his head. * After four
decades in which he
kept his experiences
to himself, he shared
with Beis Moshiach the
instructions, letters
and encouragement
from the Rebbe that
saved his life and gave
him the strength to
vanquish the enemy
and establish a
Chassidic family. * An
exclusive interview
marking forty years
since the Yom Kippur
War.
By N Friedman
FEATURE
909_bm_eng.indd 20 2013-12-30 12:09:02 PM
I
t was late at night, just a few
months before the outbreak
of the Yom Kippur War and
Sergeant Shimon Cohen
stood alone at his post on the
Egyptian border. He had been
called up to serve in the Reserves
a few days earlier and had left a
wife and two young children at
home. Although it had been a long
time since anything untoward had
occurred, it was impossible to
know when the Egyptians would
decide to break the ceasefire
agreement.
The desert cold penetrated
his bones, his eyes began to
close, and it was with difficulty
that he managed to keep himself
alert. He had to pay attention to
any suspicious movement on the
border. Suddenly, beams of light
pierced the dark and approached
rapidly. He was instantly alert
as he tensely followed the light.
It was only once he was certain
that it was an IDF jeep that he
breathed a bit easier.
The vehicle stopped with a
screech of its brakes just meters
away from his position and
two senior officials emerged.
The insignia ironed onto their
uniforms indicated that they
belonged to the highest army
ranks, and the equipment they
held in their hands looked like
night scopes.
The officers climbed the
steps of the outpost. What shall
we do? one asked the other as
he glanced at Shimon. He can
remain here, hes okay. We can
rely on him, replied the other
officer.
They set up their equipment
and spent a long time scanning
a point in the distance. They
turned the instrument right
and left and whispered to one
another. It seemed they were
observing Egyptian troops over
the border. A few minutes passed
and Shimon tried to sit quietly.
They soon folded up their
equipment and went down to
the jeep. They will yet surprise
us, he heard one of them saying.
That sentence has not stopped
reverberating in Shimons head,
even forty years later.
What a pity they did not
listen to the Rebbes cries. We
lost thousands of soldiers for
nothing when it all could have
been easily prevented.
R Shimon has witnessed
terrible sights. A number of times,
throughout the interview, he
had to stop talking. At a certain
point he shared in a muted voice,
Although I am a Kohen, many
times I had to handle the bodies
of soldiers that fell in war so they
would receive Jewish burial and
would not fall into the hands of
the Egyptians.
For forty years I have not
spoken about it. This is the first
time Ive agreed to open up and
relate what I experienced during
the war. Although I returned
physically safe and sound, I will
never be the same.
WRITING TO THE REBBE
On the afternoon of the holy
day of Yom Kippur 5734/1973,
in the Katamon neighborhood
of Yerushalayim, the streets were
still. R Shimon Cohen, together
with dozens of other men, sat
crowded in a small shtibel used
by the Chabad minyan.
Then suddenly, sounds of a
commotion could be heard from
the street. The street, which
was usually quiet on this day,
was surprisingly noisy. Trucks
rumbled down the narrow streets,
announcements could be heard,
and people began to gather in
clusters. The atmosphere was
tense. War has broken out,
was the news which was passed
around.
R Shimon received orders
on Yom Kippur to return to the
army, but he only found out
about it after the fast.
Despite the hullabaloo in
the street which we could hear
in shul, I concentrated on the
davening. It was only after
Havdala that I returned home
to discover a draft notice on my
door for immediate mobilization.
My wife was still in shul and
when she returned I told her
about the latest developments.
His draft order was met with
mixed feelings. Defending the
Jewish people at a time like this
was an obligation, but he had
two little children at home, the
oldest only a year and a half,
and to leave his wife at home
for a protracted period and who
knew when and whether he
would return altogether, well,
that wasnt easy. Who would help
her?
As a Chassid, he knew that
before going to war he had to
write to the Rebbe and ask for his
bracha.
Early the next morning, after
909_bm_eng.indd 21 2013-12-30 12:09:03 PM
mikva and davening, I sat down
to write a letter to the Rebbe. I
asked for a bracha that I return
safely from war. At that time, I
had no idea how many miracles
I would need in order for that to
happen.
It was the first of a long series
of letters that he wrote to the
Rebbe.

When our forces crossed the Suez Canal, we
saw hundreds of Egyptian bodies foating on
the water. When I saw this, I thought how the verse from
the Song of the Sea was being fulflled once again. The
Egyptian army which had pursued the Jewish people
had drowned, just like their ancestors.
THE COHEN FAMILYS CHABAD CONNECTION
The relationship R Shimons family has with the
Rebbe began in his childhood when he lived in the
renowned Katamon neighborhood in Yerushalayim.
His father, who learned and was educated in
Chassidishe yeshivos like Chayei Olam, also sent his
children to these schools.
It was important to my father to transmit the
rich world of Chassidus to us children. I remember
that for a number of years I learned in Yiddish in
elementary school, which years later was very helpful
to me when I learned in Kfar Chabad, and in listening
to and learning the Rebbes sichos and maamarim. We
would daven in Chassidishe shtiblach in Katamon, the
shtiblach founded by R Yisroel Zev Mintzberg.
Katamon was a very diverse neighborhood with
Jews of all ages and backgrounds. Every nusach had
its own shul or even several. There were a number
of Lubavitcher families; I remember Chaimson,
Rabinowitz, Spietzky, Elituv, and Schlesinger. R Adin
Steinsaltz would give Tanya classes. With much effort
on the part of R Elituv, a Chabad minyan was started.
My father, who always liked Lubavitchers, chose to
daven in this minyan.
When I was twelve, in 5720, I was sent to a
Chabad school for the first time, to the vocational
school in Kfar Chabad. My mother wasnt well and my
father had to take care of us on his own. R Nachum
Rabinowitz and R Tzvi Greenwald of Kfar Chabad saw
the situation and urged my father to send us to learn
in the school in the Kfar. Their efforts were successful
and one day, my father informed me and my brother
Dovid that we were going to learn in the Kfar. I credit
those two Chassidim for my being a Chassid today.
For the first half of the day I learned carpentry,
and in the afternoon I went to the yeshiva and learned
Halacha and Chassidus with the talmidim there. I have
pleasant memories of the mashpia, R Shlomo Chaim
Kesselman who would farbreng with the bachurim and
implant in them a fire of hiskashrus for the Rebbe. R
Shlomo Chaim would farbreng in Yiddish. My brother
and I, who knew Yiddish from elementary school,
understood him, but most of the boys in the vocational
school did not understand the language. At one
farbrengen one of them said to R Shlomo Chaim, The
bachurim from the vocational school dont understand
Yiddish. R Shlomo Chaim dismissively waved his
hand and said, They understand and their neshama
also understands.
At one farbrengen, before the enactment about
mashke, one of the bachurim drank a bit too much
and in his inebriation he took a plate of salad from
the table and threw it in my face. The next morning,
when I went to the mikva, I met R Shlomo Chaim who
asked me, Is everything all right? When I said yes, he
looked at me emotionally and said, You will yet be a
Chassid and your children will be Chassidim. Boruch
Hashem, I raised a fine Chassidishe family and my
children are all Chassidim.
In 5728, after receiving the Rebbes answer and
bracha, I left the vocational school and enlisted in
the army within a military company called Gideon,
started by Agudas Yisroel. After basic training which
took a few weeks, the army decided that this company
was superfluous and wanted to dismantle it. Agudas
Yisroel, which had worked hard to establish it, insisted
on its continued existence. After lots of discussion
it was decided that 20% of us would continue in the
army and all the rest would take off their uniforms
and do Sheirut Leumi, protecting and providing aid to
communal yishuvim.
Since I received a bracha from the Rebbe before
I was drafted, I asked to be allowed to remain in the
army and my request was approved. After a course in
heavy artillery, I was attached to a mortar squad in a
support unit and that is where I did my army service.
That is why mortars were so familiar to me and I was
asked to train new soldiers during the war.
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909_bm_eng.indd 22 2013-12-30 12:09:04 PM
Several times throughout
the war I wrote detailed letters
to the Rebbe in which I poured
out whatever was on my mind
and heart, the battle situation,
the feelings of the soldiers, and
about the losses and victories we
experienced.
HEADING FOR THE FRONT
One of the big surprises that
the army had to deal with was the
use of Sagger anti-tank guided
missiles used by the Egyptian
army. They were manufactured
by the Soviet Union and were
highly accurate. They were
an utter surprise to Israeli
Intelligence who were unaware of
the missiles advantages and that
the Egyptians had them.
The missile was guided by a
network of wires and they were
able to direct the missile along
the entire route of its flight. The
missile was very powerful and
just one missile was enough to
rip a tank to shreds and turn it
into a fireball. The Egyptians also
used these missiles against the
convoys that brought equipment
and soldiers to the battlefield.
Our first response to this
missile, in order to stabilize the
positions of our forces in the
area, was through mortar fire.
Their advantage over the Saggers
was that they flew on a steep
arc, so they did not disclose the
position of the shooter. Since I
had amassed a lot of experience
in using mortars, I was selected
to train the soldiers in how to use
these weapons.
After two days in which he
was in the Tzrifin camp, he
was sent to a base near Kiryat
Malachi and from there, straight
to the battlefield. In his initial
army service he had fought in
a support mortar unit on the
southern front which bordered
on Egypt, and now he was sent
back there. A soldier who knows
the south, fights in the south,
said his commanders.
The atmosphere among the
soldiers was very tense, recalls
R Shimon. We had heard that
many soldiers had already fallen
and about the confusion and lack
of order in the armys response
to the Arab attack. Fear was in
the air, fear of the unknown. We
all knew that we were going to
fight now and nobody knew who
would return.
When I reached the
battlefield I was immediately
attached to a mortar unit. We
received orders to use all the
ammunition we had in order to
get the Egyptian tanks to retreat.
We fired every kind of rocket at
the Egyptians. We used all the
means at our disposal in order
to halt the rapid advancement of
the Egyptian armored corps into
Israel.
On one of the first days of
war, we shot and shot for hours,
mortars of all kinds. The mortar
tube turned red from the heat of
so much use and soldiers were
afraid to go near it. At the end of
an exhausting night, the soldiers
calculated that the value of the
mortars we shot in one day was
over $100,000 (in the dollar
value of those days) and that was
just my unit.
R Shimon Cohen putting tfllin on with a wounded soldier
One of the letters he received
from the Rebbe after the war
909_bm_eng.indd 23 2013-12-30 12:09:07 PM
MIRACLES EVERY DAY
Forty years have passed since
those bleak days.
The very fact that I am alive
is thanks to a series of miracles,
thanks to the brachos I received
from the Rebbe. During the war
I was mostly on the Bar Lev Line.
That was a chain of fortifications
built by Israel along the eastern
coast of the Suez Canal after
it captured the Sinai Peninsula
from Egypt during the 1967 Six-
Day War.
One day I was sent to the
Havraga stronghold, which was
located in a central part of the
canal. Near this stronghold was a
fort called Televizia which was a
preferred target of the Egyptians
and was shelled constantly by
missiles and mortars. After hours
of artillery bombardment the
soldiers there were exhausted and
asked us to take over.
Despite the obvious danger,
Shimon and his unit agreed to
move from Havraga which was
relatively quiet, to Televizia which
was besieged.
We exchanged positions and
now it was our turn to absorb the
Egyptian fire. A few minutes after
we relocated to the new position
the Egyptian bombardment
intensified, but inexplicably,
they directed most of their fire
at Havraga, where we had been
just a few minutes earlier. The
force of the shelling demolished
the stronghold and not a single
soldier remained alive.
We then received an order
to advance in the direction of the
canal. I went over to the officer
who gave the order and asked
which road to take, to use the
plastic roads or to continue
across the sand. The regular
asphalt roads heated up quickly
in the desert sun and burned
the wheels on the trucks, which
is why the IDF paved certain
roads with substances that could
withstand the heat. These roads
were referred to as plastic.
The officer gave me a
strange look and asked me,
Didnt you hear? The plastic
roads are already in their hands.
As we advanced through the
sand, an Egyptian commando
unit was waiting in ambush.
Despite the heavy losses my unit
sustained, I was saved.
A few months later, I felt a
tap on the back and a voice I did
not recognize asked, Youre still
alive?! When I turned around
I saw the same officer who had
given us the order. He explained
his amazement and said, We sent
you there even though we knew
that the chance of your returning
was very slim, but we had to
take this step in order to halt the
advance of the Egyptians.
Another time, the Regiment
Commander Rabinowitz
prepared the entire brigade
to advance on the Budapest
Fort. Fort Budapest or, as it
was known, Motti Ashkenazis
position (because it was
under his command), was the
northernmost stronghold on
the Bar Lev Line. It was located
on the Mediterranean Sea and,
due to its isolated location on
the edge of the sea, it suffered
from flooding and the earth
was muddy. Its location and
conditions made it difficult to
control. The Egyptians, who
saw our advance toward it, shot
mortars and missiles to get rid of
us, but we kept advancing, slowly
and carefully.
Close to two in the
morning we arrived in the area
and prepared for the attack.
Rabinowitz announced that we
had two hours to sleep and at
precisely four oclock we would
begin the attack. We all lay on
the ground, our eyes closed but
it was hard to sleep. We were
very afraid for we all knew how
many men we could lose in the
attempt to retake the position.
Two hours passed, then three,
and there was no signal to attack.
In the morning we found out that
the army brass was not willing to
take additional chances and lose
soldiers and so the operation was
canceled. You could say that my
life was saved once again.
In the army it is common for
nicknames to stick. One of the
soldiers was nicknamed Poodle.
He was a nervous guy and I
guess thats why he was given
this name. One night, Poodle and
Soldiers in an improvised sukka during the war (photo by Daniel Hirschler)
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909_bm_eng.indd 24 2013-12-30 12:09:12 PM
I were sitting in a half-track on
guard. I suddenly began feeling
uneasy about the place we were
located, for no apparent reason.
I said to Poodle, Listen, I sense
this is not a good spot. Come,
lets move fifty meters to the left.
We moved and a few
minutes later a powerful sound of
mortars shook the area. Missiles
fell precisely on the spot where
we sat a few minutes earlier. You
can imagine where Id be today if
I had stayed there.
At a certain point, the
Regiment Commander was
exchanged for a young officer
by the name of Shechter from
Kibbutz HaChotrim. He fought
with mesirus nefesh and broke
through the ranks of the enemy
with miraculous success. Under
his command, we rained hellfire
on the Egyptians and finally,
finally managed to move forward
toward the canal.
When our forces crossed the
Suez Canal, we saw hundreds of
Egyptian bodies floating on the
water. When I saw this, I thought
how the verse from the Song of
the Sea was being fulfilled once
again. The Egyptian army which
had pursued the Jewish people
had drowned, just like their
ancestors.
MIVTZA TEFILLIN
SAVES LIVES
As I related, before I went to
war I wrote a letter to the Rebbe
in which I asked for a bracha that
I return safe and sound. I first
saw the Rebbes response, which
was mailed to my home, a few
weeks later when I was on a short
furlough. The Rebbe responded
with many brachos and good
wishes.
Upon returning to the front,
I took the letter with me. When I
happened to see the commander
of the south, Arik Sharon, I told
him about the letter. He took it
from me and read it line by line.
When he finished, he folded it
and put it in his pocket and said,
Ill keep it.
In the letters that I received
from the Rebbe during the
war, he told me to do Mivtza
Tfillin. I kept busy circulating
among the soldiers and offering
tfillin. At first, I was a little shy
about approaching soldiers and
offering tfillin. I did not know
how soldiers at war would react
to this suggestion. In addition,
the intense schedule of fighting
did not always allow for it. Then
something happened which did
away with my reticence and
spurred me on to offer tfillin to
everyone.
In the unit with me was a
soldier who had a shell explode
meters away from him. Shrapnel
entered his head. Fortunately,
he wasnt seriously injured. If
the shrapnel would have entered
a few millimeters further,
the damage would have been
irreversible.
In the days following the
attack, this same soldier came
over to me and asked that I put
tfillin on with him. His request
made me think: Did I have to
wait for him to come over to me?
What about those soldiers who
dont come over? Why should
they miss out? After that, I went
around and tried to put on tfillin
with whomever I could.
My family sent me special,
small tfillin, that were written by
the Yerushalmi scribe, R Shaul
Sharabani, the son of the famous
mekubal, R Yehoshua Sharabani.
I wrapped them in a plastic bag
and put them in my pocket so
that even when we went to fight,
I could carry them with me and
offer them to every soldier.
The Rebbe emphasized
many times that in order to be
victorious in battle you need to

When it was my turn to pass by the Rebbe, my
emotions overfowed and I could barely manage
to introduce myself as Shimon Cohen from Yerushalayim.
The Rebbe gazed at me with sparkling eyes and with a
fatherly smile he said, Finally, youve arrived!
R Shimon Cohen with friends in his unit
909_bm_eng.indd 25 2013-12-30 12:09:13 PM
use a special weapon, a weapon
to which the enemy has no
response. These are the tfillin
about which it says, and all the
nations of the world will see the
name of Hashem called upon you
and they will fear you. I tried
to be involved in Mivtza Tfillin
throughout the war.
I once went over to an officer
who was in charge of a tank unit
and offered him to put on tfillin.
He looked at me scornfully and
said, Scram. Another officer
who was in the area went over to
him and whispered something in
his ear and the same disdainful
officer called me right back and
rolled up his sleeve for tfillin.
When he finished he said, Do
you know why I put on tfillin
now? When I see a religious
soldier fighting for our nation,
its only because of this that I put
on tfillin. After that, whenever
he saw me, he put on tfillin.
I still try to be active in
mivtza tfillin. Every day, after I
finish working at Yeshivat Porat
Yosef in the Jewish Quarter, I go
to the Kosel and join my brother
Dovid, one of the veterans at
the Chabad tfillin stand. We put
tfillin on many Jews who visit the
Kosel.
Another soldier who served
in my unit belonged to a hesder
yeshiva. We learned together
regularly. He taught me Mishna
Brura and I taught him the
daily Chitas so that even during
wartime, I was able to spread the
wellsprings.
After the first twenty bloody
days of war in which we managed
to rout the Egyptian army beyond
the canal, we remained there
to guard the Line. At this time,
the Rebbe told the Chassidim
to reach all the soldiers on the
battlefield and to bring them a
message of encouragement and
bitachon. Many mitzva tanks
went out to bring joy to the
soldiers.
The army asked the
Chassidim to wear IDF uniforms
and they supplied them. On
many occasions the tanks
would appear, and the soldiers
who eagerly awaited the joy
and good cheer during those
difficult times, gathered around
the Chassidim, said lchaim, and
heard encouraging messages
from the Rebbe. I remember
in particular the Chassidim, R
Meir Friedman and R Shmuel
Chefer who danced and made the
soldiers rejoice.
One of the officers said a
line that expressed the positive
feelings of the soldiers toward
Chabad, Here, on the front, in
the line of fire, not even a dog
comes here. We havent seen
any members of the Knesset, any
ministers, any public figures. Just
you Chabad, only you!
I received sichos and
telegrams of encouragement
which the Rebbe sent to the
residents of Eretz Yisroel through
these Mitzva Tanks. I passed
along and publicized these
messages to all the soldiers. Every
Shabbos there was a chaplain
who would instruct me to say
a dvar Torah and to address
the soldiers and I would repeat
sichos from the Rebbe.
The Regiment Commander
of the battalion in which I
served was a kibbutznik by the
name of Rabinowitz. He loved
me and although he was in
charge of an entire battalion,
he was especially friendly with
me and often asked me to join
him. Because of my beard, I
was nicknamed Abu-Zakein. In
a candid moment Rabinowitz
said to me, Abu-Zakein, do you
know why I love you? Because I
see how consistent you are, how
devoted you are. You dont make
allowances for yourself. You
daven every tfilla and dont eat
without washing your hands. I
admire that. It was a big kiddush
Hashem to hear this from him.
I used my good relationship
with Rabinowitz to help other
soldiers. As Sukkos approached,
some religious soldiers came over
to me and asked how we would
manage to eat without a kosher
sukka. I spoke to Rabinowitz and
asked him to allow us to build a
sukka. Instead of responding, he
dismissed me scornfully. I did
not understand why his attitude
toward me had suddenly changed
but I kept quiet. Then I noticed
a tow truck dragging shipping
crates and other soldiers building
walls. An Arab was sent to cut
down palm leaves and that is
how, in the middle of the war,
a kosher sukka was built. That
Sukkos we celebrated in the same
desert where our ancestors sat
in sukkos. And not only did we
have a sukka but we also had the
four minim. During Yom Tov and
Chol HaMoed many soldiers said
the bracha on the four minim.
DAILY LETTERS
TO THE REBBE
The Rebbe asked for detailed
reports.
As a soldier of the Rebbe
on the battlefield, I felt I had to
report to the Rebbe. Whenever
I had a free moment I sat down
and wrote to the Rebbe about
everything I was experiencing.
After weeks of no rest, there
were short respites and I used
the breaks to circulate among
the soldiers and ask their names
and their mothers names so they
could receive a bracha from the
Rebbe. I figured, why just ask for
brachos for myself? We all need
to return in peace. I included
these names in the letters I sent
to the Rebbe. I wrote my home
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909_bm_eng.indd 26 2013-12-30 12:09:14 PM
address on all these letters so
the Rebbes responses would go
directly to my house.
In addition to the names
of the soldiers which I wrote to
the Rebbe myself, I encouraged
many soldiers to correspond with
the Rebbe directly and ask for a
bracha, advice and direction in
life. Since I sent my letters to the
Rebbe through the military mail
system, I advised the soldiers to
do likewise.
The soldiers liked the idea
and sent many letters to the
Rebbe until the clerk in charge
of the mail service came with a
bunch of envelopes and yelled,
Whats with all these letters to
America? Stop sending letters to
the Lubavitcher Rebbe already!
Against the backdrop of the
horrific reports and terrible
sights that followed them
throughout, R Shimon derived
much encouragement from the
open miracles he heard about
from those soldiers who received
answers from the Rebbe.
One of the soldiers told
me in frustration, that the
marital harmony situation back
at home had deteriorated to
an extreme, he and his wife
constantly fought, and he was
afraid they had reached a point
of no return. I tried to encourage
him and suggested that he write
to the Rebbe for a bracha. He
immediately sat down and wrote
about his situation at length.
Just a few days passed and he
received the Rebbes response:
Dont worry, during wartime
shalom bayis improves. This
greatly encouraged him.
At the end of the war, when
victory was assured and the
soldiers in the reserves were
allowed to return home, I asked
Rabinowitz whether he wanted
me to ask the Rebbe for a bracha
for him. He didnt even wait
until I finished my sentence; he
quickly said all was well and he
didnt need a bracha from the
Rebbe.
From his tone it seemed
to me that although he claimed
everything was fine, it wasnt
quite so. I pleaded with him to
ask for a bracha and explained
that even in the most difficult
situations, the Rebbe could help.
After beseeching him again
and again, he whispered, Abu-
Zakein, listen. I am going to tell
you something personal now, but
you have to promise not to tell
a soul. Of course I agreed and
then he told me, My wife and I
are genetically incompatible and
this is why our children are not
healthy and dont develop. Ask
the Rebbe to bless us so that we
have a healthy child.
I asked him for his home
address and wrote to the Rebbe
on his behalf. Several months
later, Rabinowitz called me and
said he had received a letter
from the Rebbe with detailed
instructions about what to do
to merit a healthy child. He
consulted with some friends on
the kibbutz and he decided to
do as the Rebbe said. I was later
informed that he and his wife
had a healthy son, thanks to the
Rebbes bracha.
For many years after the war
I saw soldiers who had written to
the Rebbe who then became more
involved in Jewish practice.
***
Although he had started
corresponding with the Rebbe
from the age of twelve, for over
thirty years, he had not seen the
Rebbe face to face:
It was first in Tishrei 5750
that I had the zchus to see
the Rebbe. When it was my
turn to pass by the Rebbe, my
emotions overflowed and I could
barely manage to introduce
myself as Shimon Cohen from
Yerushalayim.
The Rebbe gazed at me with
sparkling eyes and with a fatherly
smile he said, Finally, youve
arrived!
Yisroel Lapidot helped
prepare this article
With Sharon on the banks of the Canal R Shimon receiving a dollar for tzdaka from the Rebbe
909_bm_eng.indd 27 2013-12-30 12:09:18 PM
COUNT TO ELEVEN
By Rabbi Gershon Avtzon
Dear reader shyichyeh,
This week we begin the special
month of Shevat. For Chassidei
Chabad, the very mention of
the month of Shevat reminds us
that we are in the proximity of
10 Shevat, the Yahrtzait of the
Frierdike Rebbe and the day of
the Kabbalas HaNesius of the
Rebbe.
The month of Shevat is very
connected to Moshiach. Firstly,
the name of the month
reminds us of Moshiach, as the
Pasuk (BaMidbar 24:17)
and a staff (Moshiach)
will arise from Israel which will
crush the princes of Moab and
uproot all the sons of Seth.
We find the word in another
pasuk relating to Moshiach
(VaYechi 49:10):
The
scepter shall not depart from
Yehudah, nor the student of the
law from between his feet, until
Shiloh comes....
Shevat is the 11th month
of the year. According to
Kabbala (and elaborated upon
in the sichos of winter 5752)
the number 11 represents the
supernatural revelation that will
be in the times of Moshiach.
The number 10 reflects the
natural perfection that the world
can attain on its own, while 11
represents the G-dly force that is
hidden in creation being revealed
and elevating the entire creation.
In the month of Shevat
we always read in the Torah
the portions that deal with the
Jewish people leaving Egypt. The
beginning of the process of the
final redemption and indeed the
source of the power that we have
to bring the final redemption
is the Jewish people leaving
Mitzrayim. Being that the month
of Shevat is an auspicious month
to bring Moshiach, we read and
get empowered by the portions
that deal with Geulas Mitzrayim.
During the month of Shevat
we celebrate Tu BShvat
the 15th of Shevat the Rosh
HaShana of the trees. While
we thank Hashem for all fruits,
the main celebration is to give
thanks and appreciation for the
7 species of Eretz Yisroel. They
are wheat, barley, grapes, figs,
pomegranates, olive oil and
honey (of dates). Aside for the
spiritual messages and lessons
that we learn from these 7 species
(see sicha 15 Shvat 5752), it
arouses within us the yearning
to return to Eretz Yisroel with
Moshiach.
This is expressed in the Al
HaMichya post-eating blessing,
where we say the following:
Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d,
King of the universe, for the
produce of the field, and for the
precious, good, and spacious land
which You have graciously given
as a heritage to our ancestors, to
eat of its fruit and to be satiated
with its goodness. Have mercy,
L-rd our G-d, on Israel Your
people, on Jerusalem Your city,
on Zion the abode of Your glory,
on Your altar, and on Your
Temple. Rebuild Jerusalem, the
holy city, speedily in our days,
and bring us up to it and make us
rejoice in it, and we will bless You
in holiness and purity.
Let us finish with words of
the Rebbe (Bo 5752): It has
been mentioned many times that
already all the appointed times
have passed and everything is
concluded, and the Redemption
should have come long ago. But
for totally incomprehensible
reasons, it has not yet come.
Therefore it follows, that
now the Redemption must come
imminently and immediately. To
employ a colloquial expression:
this is High time for the true and
complete Redemption!
In terms of spiritual matters
(including the highest levels
of spirituality) there already
is perfection, including also
the most complete state of
Redemption. Thus the spiritual
eyes of the Jew can already see
it. We must open our physical
eyes that they too should see
the Redemption in a way that is
clearly visible to eyes of flesh in
our time...
Of practical relevance,
everyone should resolve that his
study of the previous Rebbes
Torah should complete and
compensate for that which was
lacking in the dissemination
and spreading of the wellsprings
due to the speech impediment
of my sainted father-in-law.
One accomplishes this both
through ones own learning out
loud as well as spreading of the
wellsprings to others.
Rabbi Avtzon is the Rosh Yeshiva
of Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati and a
well sought after speaker and lecturer.
Recordings of his in-depth shiurim
on Inyanei Geula uMoshiach can be
accessed at http://www.ylcrecording.com.
MOSHIACH & GEULA
909_bm_eng.indd 28 2013-12-30 12:09:21 PM
A PUZZLE
FROM
HEAVEN

The kibbutznikim told us: Its simply
amazing. The holiness came to the
kibbutz and drove out the impurity...
They understood that G-d had arranged
this shlichus for us. A person thinks that
he runs his own affairs, signs contracts,
or sets out in search of a certain goal.
Suddenly, he realizes that the Hand of
Alm-ghty G-d directs everything
By Nosson Avraham
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
T
he following story
took place last
year, Rabbi Shneur
Burkis told Beis
Moshiach.
Each week I would travel to
Kibbutz Lehavot HaBashan in
the Upper Galilee to give over a
class in Chassidus before a core
group of Chabad supporters
thirsting to hear words of Torah
and Chassidic philosophy. While
there, I also helped to prepare a
local boy for his bar-mitzvah.
Under normal
circumstances, before heading
out to the kibbutz I would call a
few of the participants to make
certain that everyone would be
at the shiur and I wouldnt be
coming for nothing.
On one such occasion I
was so preoccupied that I didnt
manage to call before boarding
the bus traveling to the kibbutz.
Only after I was on the road, I
started making phone calls. To
my great surprise, I heard that
everyone was going to be off the
kibbutz that night. One person
had a family simcha, another had
work commitments, while yet
another was on vacation. When I
realized what this meant for the
Torah class, I felt that the Rebbe
apparently wanted me to make
the trip just for the bar-mitzvah
boy. I called his parents, and we
arranged to have my class with
their son as scheduled.
The boys father was waiting
for me at the kibbutz entrance.
He was very happy to see me and
we immediately headed for his
house. It was eight oclock on a
winter evening, and the kibbutz
had been already covered in
darkness for several hours. As we
were driving, I noticed a powerful
light emanating from one of the
courtyards. When I asked my
host what was happening he
smiled and said that this was
Mr. Weizmanns house, and he
was celebrating his birthday with
friends. I was acquainted with
this Mr. Weizmann, as he had
participated in several of our
outreach activities. Then and
there I decided to go in and wish
him a Happy Birthday. Let me
off here, I said. Ill walk over to
your house in a few minutes.
By Divine Providence I
had brought my melodica
MIVTZAIM STORY
909_bm_eng.indd 29 2013-12-30 12:09:24 PM
a musical instrument that I
often played, and I entered the
Weizmann home. People didnt
understand where this man clad
in black had come from, but
to their credit, they quickly put
aside their misgivings. I blessed
the birthday boy, adding a few
Chassidic concepts in honor of
the auspicious occasion, and
I then played my melodica.
Everyone left very pleased. At the
end of the visit I started walking
towards the home of the bar-
mitzvah boy.
Along one of the kibbutzs
narrow roads, I noticed a young
man looking at me from his front
porch with a cigarette in his
hand. He said, Good evening
and I returned the greeting. I
didnt feel that he was just being
polite, rather he was inviting me
to come over.
What is your name? I
asked.
Yigal Levy, he replied.
The name rang a bell. I
took my mobile phone out of my
pocket, entered his name, and
asked him if his phone number
was... A look of stunned disbelief
crossed his face.
How did you know? he
cried.
I have a friend who is
currently on shlichus in Kasol,
India, I told him. He called
Rabbi Yossi Daniel, head of the
kollel in Tzfas where I learn,
and he asked him to inform me
that a young man from Kibbutz
Lehavot HaBashan named
Yoram Levy had arrived at the
Chabad House, and I should get
in touch with him. According to
the shliach, this young man had
received an amazing answer from
the Rebbe via the Igros and he
needed some direction on how to
act.
However, instead of giving
me the name Yoram Levy, Rabbi
Daniel mistakenly told me, Look
for someone named Yigal Levy
and so I did. I contacted Bezeq
information, and I eventually
got your phone number. Two
days later, Rabbi Daniel asked
me what was happening with
Yoram Levy. I didnt understand.
Didnt you tell me his name was
Yigal Levy? But he said with
conviction that the shliach had
given him the name Yoram, not
Yigal. He even showed me the
e-mail he had received on the
matter. I looked for the name
Yoram Levy, but I couldnt find
it. For some reason, your phone
number is still in my mobile
phones list of contacts.
Yigal Levy ran to tell his wife.
He was astounded by the chain
of events. This is a miracle, he
said. We then decided to keep in
touch with one another.
While living on shlichus,
we clearly see how the Rebbe
provides proper guidance, as the
great power of Divine Providence
directs everything. If I would
have called the kibbutznikim who
participate in the weekly shiur
and heard that no one would be
at home, I surely would not have
made the journey that night.
What is the likelihood that after
meeting another young man
standing on his front porch, I
would reveal by mistake excuse
me, merit by an amazing case of
Divine Providence his telephone
number in my mobile phone?
In short, theres someone
running the show.
And what happened to
Yoram? He, in fact, did visit the
Chabad House in Kasol, India.
We managed to locate him later
and established contact with him.
He too has joined our growing
circle of friends and supporters
on the kibbutz, as he continues to
grow stronger in his connection
to Torah and Chassidus.
WHEN THE HOLINESS
COMES, THE IMPURITY
DEPARTS
Even before our wedding,
said Rabbi Noam Volpin, it was
clear to my wife and I that we
intended to devote our lives to the
Rebbes shlichus. Since we had
been born and lived many years
without Torah and mitzvos, we
felt that it was our obligation to
help others, similar to those who
had selflessly devoted themselves
to revealing the light of Torah
and Chassidus to people like
us. During the first year of our
marriage we lived in the Nachlat
Har Chabad community in Kiryat
Malachi, from where we searched
for a suitable place for going out
on shlichus. Eventually we chose
the Tel-Chai Regional College in
the Upper Galilee. I had grown
up on Kibbutz Maayan Baruch
located nearby, and many of
my friends had learned or were
currently learning in the college.
As a result, we thought that this
would be an excellent place for
holding activities with young
people.
Our rental contract in
Nachlat Har Chabad was due to
expire in Elul, and we had spent
considerable time looking for
an appropriate home near the
Rabbi Shneur Burkis
MIVTZAIM STORY
909_bm_eng.indd 30 2013-12-30 12:13:48 PM
college. After a lengthy search
we found a nice apartment in
Kiryat Shmona. We reached an
agreement with the owner that we
would move in within two weeks
and we signed a rental contract.
A week before the scheduled
move, after all our things in
Kiryat Malachi were packed and
ready to go, the owner informed
us that she regrettably would be
unable to fulfill her contractual
commitments because she still
hadnt found an alternative place
of residence. We were suddenly
in a most precarious position. On
the one hand, our previous rental
contract had already expired; on
the other hand, we had no new
place to live.
We headed up north and
went back to the realtor to look
for another home. After we
couldnt seem to find anything
appropriate in Kiryat Shmona,
we also started looking in the
surrounding yishuvim and
kibbutzim. I really didnt want
to consider going back to the
kibbutz where I was raised
Maayan Baruch out of concern
for the reaction of the local
residents. I preferred to focus
my search on other locations.
However, as the pasuk says,
There are many thoughts in a
mans heart, but G-ds plan
that shall stand. The Hand of
Divine Providence directed us to,
of all places, my childhood home
Kibbutz Maayan Baruch. We
met the property owner there,
and she showed us a house
a beautiful villa in a brand
new neighborhood built as an
extension to the kibbutz. After we
received the Rebbes bracha we
signed the rental contract.
I was astonished by the
warm and heartfelt welcome
we had received from the
kibbutz members. They saw
an ultra-Orthodox Jew with a
beard and tzitzis in their midst,
something that once would have
aroused profound concern and
enmity among them. However,
something had apparently created
a change for the better. Two days
later, we ordered a delivery truck
to collect our belongings and we
made our way to the kibbutz. We
arrived at our new house very late
in the evening, and the workers
began unloading the boxes. Tired
and exhausted, we lay down and
fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning we awoke
to the loud noise of workers
outside. We opened the windows
and noticed a commotion around
the house across the lane.
The workers were removing
everything from the house
and placing items into several
commercial vehicles parked near
the front door.
About an hour later all the
cars had left and the workers
had left behind several pieces
of furniture in the courtyard
with a note: Anyone who wants
can come and take for free.
We went over and saw some
expensive high-quality furniture
in excellent condition. We took
whatever pieces we needed, and
we make use of them to this day.
We only realized the full
extent of the Divine Providence
we had experienced a few
days later. Kibbutz members,
including the owner of the
house across the street, told us
who the previous resident had
been. It turned out that he was a
missionary who had come to the
kibbutz for the express purpose
of proselytizing Jewish souls. He
worked tirelessly for this purpose
over a period of three and a
half years distributing books
and gifts, using the power of
persuasion, inciting, agitating
but all his efforts went for naught.
Throughout the time of his
activities, he never managed to
convince a single Jew to abandon
his religion. The kibbutznikim
said that they had tried to fight
him, but to no avail. He was a
very stubborn and determined
individual.
Suddenly, on the night we
arrived, this person decided
to pack his bags and leave the
kibbutz. The owner said that the
rental contract had been for ten
years, but on the night we came
to the kibbutz, the man called
him in a trembling voice to say
that he had just bought a one-
way ticket to Italy. The meaning
was clear: He was gone for good.
The kibbutznikim told us:
Its simply amazing. The holiness
came to the kibbutz and drove
out the impurity... Anyone who
knows the manner in which these
people conduct their lives and I
used to be one of them realizes
what a tremendous revolution
they have gone through in recent
years. They understood that G-d
had arranged this shlichus for us.
For my wife and me who had just
arrived there for a life of shlichus,
it was an indispensable lesson
in Divine Providence. We were
sorry that we had lost out on the
apartment in Kiryat Shmona, yet
it turned out that He who is the
cause of causes and the producer
of effects knows well what He
is doing and when He should do
it...
Rabbi Noam Volpin
909_bm_eng.indd 31 2013-12-30 12:09:26 PM
RISKING
HIS LIFE
FOR A
FELLOW
JEW
Stories and memories about
the Chassid, R Herschel Lerner,
recounted by his granddaughter
and suffused with Chassidic favor.
* Part 4
By his granddaughter T Maidanchek
LEARNING IN THE CELLAR
As mentioned in earlier
installments, after many
difficulties, my grandparents
R Tzvi Hirsch (Herschel) and
Sosya (Sofia) Lerner arrived in
Samarkand where they found
a relatively large Chassidic
community. My grandfather
rejoiced over finally being able
to send his son Yaakov to the
yeshiva that operated secretly
in those days. The first level
melamed was R Zushe Paz.
He taught little children while
the other ones learned by R
Shmaryahu Nachum Sasonkin,
R Shmerel Batumer for his city
of origin, Batum.
Every day my grandfather
brought his son to yeshiva. He
was very pleased that his son
took to his studies to the extent
that he was called Yankele der
masmid.
There were a number of
raids on this school. R Sasonkin
was once arrested. Another
time, the teachers and students
were arrested as they learned.
Subsequently, the school was
closed. Some of the students
switched to learning with R
Shmuel Nodel in his house.
Other classes were held on
R Herschel Lerner
MEMOIRS
909_bm_eng.indd 32 2013-12-30 12:09:27 PM
3 Denauskaya Street where R
Bentzion Maroz learned with
small groups of students. The
family of R Eliezer Mishulovin
lived in the same courtyard,
as mentioned in the previous
chapter, and nearly all Jewish
activities clustered around them.
After a time, when things
became more difficult as the
government became more
particular, the school moved to
the cellar of a house where R
Bentzion continued to devotedly
teach. The cellar was under the
building where the Mishulovins
lived. The talmidim were scared
but my grandfather urged them
all to continue learning. He
constructed sleds and used them
to bring the children to school.
The school consisted of two
classes. In the first class learned
Moshe Lerner, Itche Mishulovin,
and Bentzion Goldschmidt.
In the second class learned
Mordechai Goldschmidt, Hillel
Zaltzman, Michoel Mishulovin,
and Yaakov Lerner. There
was also a group of older boys
which included Leib Schiff and
Yosef Segalovitz. R Maroz was
mekarev some boys who were
less connected to Chabad from
the Estrelis, Portnoy, Nayuma
and Kosoi families.
Despite the fear and constant
surveillance, the talmidim
continued to learn every day.
They were well trained in
the event of an unexpected
inspection. When they heard
that a policeman was walking
about outside, they quickly
implemented their getaways.
My grandfather brought
sweets and treats for the
children to give them a positive
association and love for learning.
He also made sure to pay the
teachers, despite the fact that
any involvement with this yeshiva
entailed great danger, to the
point of mesiras nefesh.
ABSENCES FROM
PUBLIC SCHOOL
My grandfather was
constantly in touch with the
Mishulovin, Zaltzman and
Goldschmidt families. There
were no secrets among these
families and their close ties
persisted every day of the year,
whether holiday, Shabbos, or
weekday. They all consulted with
one another about topics such as
chinuch, children, setting times
to learn Torah, and matters of
parnasa too.
In 5707, along with attending
yeshiva, the children were sent
to public school, since parents
had no choice. My grandfather
did not like (an understatement)
the fact that his children had
to attend public school and he
wanted to find a way to avoid
this. He had arguments with my
grandmother about this. She
was afraid this would cause her
husband to be arrested again.
She maintained that the families
he was close with had not gone
through the misery of being
arrested and that is why they
were not so nervous.
In the end, all the children,
except for the Mishulovin boys,
began attending school in some
fashion or another. Some went
a few months later, some earlier.
They were dispersed among
various schools that were far
from one another. This was
so that the behavior of these
students wouldnt stand out.
The children who went to the
yeshiva stood out in their attire
and manner. They did not speak
in class, they did their homework
on time, and they did not use foul
language.
The main difference from the
rest of the students was in their
regular absences on Shabbos
and Yom Tov. Each school was
chosen based on what would
make it easiest for the children
to absent themselves on Shabbos
and Yom Tov and in general, to
cover the peculiar behavior of the
religious children as compared
to the rest of the student
population. The assumption was
that the principals and teachers
would have bigger problems
dealing with the darlings who
Students in R Bentzion Marozs class
909_bm_eng.indd 33 2013-12-30 12:09:27 PM
attended public school and would
leave alone these well-behaved,
quiet children whose only
misdemeanor was being absent
on Shabbos.
However, many problems
arose due to their absence from
school on Shabbos and Yom Tov.
Yud-Tes Kislev was also one of
those days that it was felt was not
appropriate for them to spend in
public school.
There were many schools
in the city that were on various
levels. My grandfather wanted
to place the children in several
schools so their absences
wouldnt be noticeable. Yaakov
was sent to public school #26,
a school known for its large
number of marginal youth. The
reason for sending him there
was that those types of boys
were absent a lot and Yaakovs
absences wouldnt stand out.
Throughout the week, the
boy and his parents were tense
as Shabbos approached. My
grandfather took upon himself
the task of coming up with
excuses for the absences. He ran
from doctor to doctor, bribed the
teachers, and sought to appease
them and divert their attention.
THE BAR MITZVA
CELEBRATION THAT WAS
CANCELED AND THEN
TOOK PLACE
In 5712, my grandfather
became a partner in a paint
factory. It was a small business
which had a few workers that
sold paint to the government.
Within a year, the business
expanded nicely and was able to
support two families, Lerner and
Katz.
R Dovid Katz was
under investigation from the
government but grandfather
was unaware of this. Once they
began following Katz, they began
following my grandfather too,
since he was close with Katz.
On the day of my father
Yaakovs bar mitzva, they planned
for some people to come to the
house in order to celebrate the
great day in a low-key fashion.
They bought six bottles of beer
and my grandmother cooked
some dishes. They all looked
forward to the celebration.
That morning, a short man
with a serious demeanor appeared
and asked, Where is Gregory
Solomonovitz? Do you know
Katz? My grandmother said
he worked with my grandfather.
The man began interrogating
her about where he lived and his
work hours, etc. The man said he
was from the police and said he
was checking information about
him. Yaakov intervened and said
his father only knew him from
work. My grandmother quickly
hushed him lest he say something
he shouldnt.
When the man finally left,
the house was in turmoil. They
alerted my grandfather who
immediately went to the factory
in order to warn Katz. When
he got there he met the same
KGB agent. The agent tried to
extract information about him
but my grandfather consistently
maintained that he had none. The
agent insisted and even brought
my grandfather to the black
KGB car and said, Let us take a
drive around the city. Sometimes
people remember ...
When my grandfather
returned home, my grandmother
began removing from the house
the refreshments that had been
prepared for the bar mitzva
so that if someone unwanted
would come, there wouldnt
be additional reasons for
interrogation. This action was
also carried out in fear that they
would discover that something
unusual was going on.
In the meantime, my
grandfather found his friend
Katz and quickly took him out
of the city. The next day, the
agent came back to the business
for the purpose of finding Katz,
but he wasnt there. The agent
fixed his terrifying gaze upon
my grandfather and asked, Did
someone tell him I was here?
My grandfather said, I dont
know. For an entire week
my grandfather was called for
interrogations and the house was
under constant surveillance.
The bar mitzva celebration
was postponed to some unknown
time. R Yosef Schiff, the one
appointed over all small factory
operations in the area and who
was reliable and a distinguished
man in the community, had pity
on Yaakov who hadnt had a
bar mitzva celebration. By way
of compensation, he promised
that they would celebrate the
following Shabbos.
Indeed, despite the goings-
on, my grandfather did not forgo
a single detail of the bar mitzva
celebration. On Shabbos Parshas
Shmos, Yaakov read the Haftora.
R Avrohom Yosef Antin had
prepared the Haftora with him.
Davening was generally done
in secret since entry to the official
shul was allowed only to those
over sixty, but the bar mitzva
was done in the official shul on
Denauski Street anyway. Despite
the great fear, everyone went to
shul in my grandfathers honor.
On the following Shabbos,
Parshas VaEira, they gathered
for a farbrengen celebration in
the home of R Yisroel Frankel.
The house was full of guests and
that is where they farbrenged and
celebrated the bar mitzva.
To be continued, G-d willing
MEMOIRS
909_bm_eng.indd 34 2013-12-30 12:09:28 PM
NO MORE
BARKING
By Rabbi Heschel Greenberg
REWARD FOR THE DOGS?
One of the ancillary aspects
of the Exodus, mentioned in this
weeks parsha, was that the dogs
in Egypt remained silent during
the plague of the Death of the
Firstborn.
When Moses informs
Pharaoh about the impending
Tenth Plague, the Death of the
Firstborn, he adds:
There shall be a great outcry
in the entire land of Egypt, such
as there has never been and such
as there shall never be again. But
against all the Children of Israel,
no dog shall sharpen his tongue,
against neither man nor beast,
so that you shall know that G-d
will have distinguished between
Egypt and Israel.
Our Sages tell us that as a
reward for their not barking and
their display of respect for the
Israelites, the Torah awarded
the dogs with a specific type of
non-kosher meat. The meat of
an animal injured by a predator
is called treifa (from which the
Yiddish word treif evolved to
mean any non-kosher substance).
The Torah declares: Do not eat
flesh that is torn off in the field.
Throw it to the dogs. Our Sages
(Mechilta, cited by Rashi) state
that this was the reward for not
barking when the Jews left Egypt.
What is the significance of
the dogs not barking at that
time? And what connection is
there between the silence of the
Egyptian dogs and the Torah
rewarding them with non-kosher
meat?
Moreover, why was the
reward limited to treifa and
not extended to other types of
forbidden meat, such as novella
(an animal that died without
ritual slaughter) or unclean
animals, etc.?
We must also understand
why, specifically, there was the
added distinction between the
Jews and Egyptians by the dogs
not barking when the Plague of
the Firstborn itself provided the
starkest distinction of all, wherein
not one Jew died even as every
Egyptian household experienced
at least one death?
A MIRACLE!
Tosafos addresses the
question of the importance of the
dogs not barking. According to
Tosafos, it was a miracle since the
Talmud teaches us that whenever
the Angel of Death is in town,
the dogs bark. Here, despite the
presence of the Angel of Death,
the miracle was that the dogs did
not bark.
However, this explanation
merely begs another question,
why was this miracle necessary?
It is axiomatic that G-d does not
perform miracles needlessly.
NO SLANDER
Another explanation is given
in light of the saying of our
Sages, One who speaks lashon
hara slander deserves to be
thrown to the dogs. In an earlier
parsha, when Moses heard how
two Jews were capable of slander,
he was so disheartened that he
questioned whether the Jewish
people as a whole were worthy of
being redeemed.
However, even upon the Jews
departure from Egypt the dogs
did not bark. It was an indication
that the Jewish people had fully
atoned for their sin of lashon
hara and were worthy of being
redeemed.
Here too the question can
be asked: why it was necessary
for the miracle of the non-
barking dogs to prove this point?
Wouldnt it have sufficed for the
dogs simply not to attack the
Jews? Furthermore, the mere fact
that the Jewish people did not
suffer any of the earlier plagues
should have amply demonstrated
that the Jews were worthy of
being spared. Why the need for
this unusual miracle of keeping
the dogs silent?
DISPLAY OF
FATHERLY LOVE
One may suggest that
this miracle was intended to
PARSHA THOUGHT
909_bm_eng.indd 35 2013-12-30 12:09:29 PM
demonstrate G-ds love for
the Jewish people in a fashion
not seen in the earlier plagues.
Silencing the dogs was G-ds
way of demonstrating that not
only was He prepared to liberate
the Jews from cruel slavery, He
did not want them to suffer any
discomfort or annoyance along
the way, such as having to hear
the barking of the dogs.
The fact that this miracle
was unnecessary for the
survival and freedom of the
Jews demonstrated that G-d
was not just trying to alleviate
the harshest aspects of their
bondage. He was also going to
pamper them by removing even
a minor discomfort.
Where does this aspect of
love and concern for the Jewish
people come from? It is based on
the fact that G-d regards us as
His children. If we go back to the
first time G-d speaks to Moses,
as he stood before the Burning
Bush, we can discover the
rationale for this added display of
love.
In Parshas Shmos we read:
G-d said to Moses, When
you go to return to Egypt reflect
on all the miracles that I have
placed in your hand, and perform
them before Pharaoh. I will,
however, strengthen his heart,
and he will not send the people
away. You shall say to Pharaoh,
This is what G-d said: Israel is
My son, My firstborn! I say to
you, send out My Son so that he
may worship Me. If you refuse to
send him out, I am going to slay
your firstborn son.
As Rashi writes, this statement
was obviously a reference to the
final plague of the death of the
firstborn Egyptians. And here we
see how, from the very outset,
G-d let it be known to Moses,
who in turn would let it be known
to Pharaoh, that the relationship
of G-d to the Jewish people was
one of a loving father to his
firstborn child. This introduction
that Moses received from G-d
was also specifically attached to
the final plague of the firstborn,
implying that everyone would see
this as basis of their relationship
at that time.
All the earlier plagues were
designed primarily to punish the
Egyptians, prove that there is an
all-powerful G-d, repudiate the
Egyptian deities and magicians,
and establish the unique
status of the Jewish people.
This final plague introduced
a new dimension: that G-ds
relationship to the Jewish people
was beyond that of a benevolent
King who seeks justice but rather
one of a loving and caring Father.
How did this manifest itself?
By what would otherwise seem
an unnecessary miracle, He
eliminated even the natural
nuisance of dogs barking (when
the Angel of Death was close by)
so that the Jewish people could
feel totally secure in their homes
during the final plague. With this
miracle, G-d demonstrated that
His loving relationship with us
transcends all limits and bounds.
This analytical approach also
sheds light on the explanation that
the lack of barking demonstrated
that the Jewish people were no
longer guilty of the sin of lashon
hara and therefore were worthy
of their newfound freedom.
When is G-ds fatherly love for
us most pronounced? It is when
we show love for one another.
There is no greater pleasure for a
parent than knowing His children
recognize each other as brothers
and sisters. When a person
recognizes and strengthens his
or her relationship with a sibling
who is the child of their common
parents, it is also an affirmation
of the parents role as a parent.
Hence the absence of
barkinga sign of G-ds loving,
fatherly relationship with usis a
direct consequence of our loving
relationship with one another.
BE HOLY!
We can now also understand
why the reward for the dogs
was the treifa meat. The
commandment not to partake
of such meat is prefaced in the
Torah with the words: People of
Holiness shall you be to Me; you
shall not eat flesh of an animal
that was torn in the field.
The definition of holiness
includes the quality of being
different and apart. When a Jew
realizes that, as one of G-ds
firstborn children, he or she is
different from other peoples, he
or she will not eat treifa. Unlike
other non-kosher meat, such as
that of ritually unclean animals or
animals that die without having
been slaughtered, there is nothing
apparently objectionable about
this kosher species of animal
that was slaughtered properly
after being torn in the field.
Nevertheless, the Jew refrains
from this meat because he or
she wants to show love for G-d
and thus acts differently. This is
therefore the fitting reward for
the dogs who did not bark. The
act of feeding this type of meat to
the dogs reminds us of G-ds love
for us and our reciprocal love for
Him.
PREPARATION
FOR THE REDEMPTION
The events of the Exodus
teach us how we are to prepare
ourselves for the final and
imminent Redemption.
It almost goes without saying
that every effort at brotherly
peace and expressions of Ahavas
Yisroel love for our fellow Jew
PARSHA THOUGHT
909_bm_eng.indd 36 2013-12-30 12:09:30 PM
that is based on the concept
of Jewish unity (Achdus Yisroel)
is the challenge of the hour.
Not only do we need this unity
to make us fully worthy of the
Redemption, but moreover, as
the Rebbe stressed, it is how we
must prepare ourselves for the
future when that unity will be
fully revealed.
When we act in a holy
(read: different) manner in
our relationship with G-d (as
expressed by observing the
prohibition against treifa meat
despite its apparent innocuous
nature) and with regard to our
relationships with one another
(where we find it painful to speak
or even think ill of our Jewish
brothers and sisters, with whom
we share our Heavenly Father)
we will see how the dogs
(which the Kabbalists state are
the forces of evil, particularly
Israels arch enemy, Amalek)
cease to bark. We will then be
ready to enter into the Messianic
Age without even the slightest
annoyance to detract from our
peace and joy.
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Rabbi Jacob Schwei
909_bm_eng.indd 37 2013-12-30 12:09:33 PM
WHO WILL TAKE
THE SINS?
By Nechama Bar
S
veta did not hold out
much hope. After many
long years of anticipation
and disappointment, she
was in despair. She thought she
would remain an aguna forever and
would not be able to remarry and
build a new home.
Sveta moved to the Holy
Land from Russia. Her husband
remained behind. Her husband
was a tough man and had even
been appointed to a senior
position in the KGB (the Russian
secret police). It would be better
not to write of the terrible things
her husband did as an employee
of this terrible police force.
Before Sveta moved to
Eretz Yisroel, her husband
swore he would never give her
a get a proper Jewish divorce.
Nevertheless, she yearned to
leave Russia and move to Eretz
Yisroel. Despite knowing that she
would have to remain alone for
the rest of her life, she packed her
belongings and left.
Her sad situation became
known to the Israeli rabbinate.
One of their employees who
helped release agunos was R
Dovid Einhorn. R Einhorn had
learned in Tomchei Tmimim
770 and he was shown special
favor by the Rebbe.
It is important to know that
releasing agunos is no simple
matter. There are husbands
who run away, leave the
country, change their names,
and disappear in the big, wide
world out there. There are also
situations in which they are found
but they still refuse to give a get.
R Einhorn took these projects
on as a holy mission and with
Hashems help he often managed
to release agunos and enabled
them to remarry.
This time, in Svetas situation,
R Einhorn knew that it wasnt at
all simple. If it had been another
country, he could have asked for
help from Jewish organizations,
requesting that they locate the
husband and urge him to give a
get. But in Russia of that time,
when it was still dangerous to
get involved in Jewish matters,
the rabbis were afraid to ask
for assistance from Jewish
organizations. They were afraid
to harm the Jews living there.
For a long time Svetas file
remained open since the rabbis
themselves did not know what
to do. Then one day, R Einhorn
received surprisingly good news
in his office. A letter! A letter
from a rabbi in Moscow. What
was in the letter? News! Svetas
husband agreed to give a get!
R Einhorn was thrilled. What
a surprise! Nobody thought he
would offer to do so on his own.
However, the letter notified
Sveta that her husband had
agreed to give the get on
condition. If she agreed to the
condition, fine; otherwise, no
get. What was the condition?
The husband demanded that
his wife accept upon herself,
in front of ten Jews, all the sins
he committed throughout his
life. It seems that despite his
wickedness, his conscience
bothered him about the pain he
had inflicted. His Jewish spark
was still burning and he sought
a way to do tshuva, but on his
wifes account.
I dont think that will be a
problem, said R Einhorn to
his fellow rabbis. Sveta doesnt
know anything about Judaism.
Torah and mitzvos dont interest
her. I believe this matter will be
readily settled.
When Sveta received the
phone call from the rabbinate
with the news about the get, she
was overjoyed. But she was still
unaware of the condition. At the
appointed time she stood before
the rabbinical court where there
were ten Jews. They happily told
her about the letter that had been
received and mentioned, by the
way, the small condition her
husband made.
What?! she shrieked. I
should take upon myself all the
sins he committed? Do you know
what kind of person he is? Do
you know how many people he
killed, what terrible crimes he
did? You want me to take all this
TZIVOS HASHEM
909_bm_eng.indd 38 2013-12-30 12:09:35 PM
upon myself?! And you thought
I would agree to this condition?
I will die an aguna and will not
take the sins of this despicable
person!
The rabbis exchanged glances
and wondered what to do next.
R Einhorn knew what to do
in a situation like this. There
was just one person to turn to,
the Rebbe. He quickly called the
Rebbes office and described the
situation. The Rebbes answer
was: Tell the woman to take his
sins upon herself and then you,
R Einhorn, take the sins from
her.
R Einhorn turned white. This
was certainly not the answer he
expected. That he should take
all the murders and crimes this
lowly man had committed upon
himself? With a burden like that
on his shoulders, his life was no
life!
R Einhorn was very shaken
up by this answer from the Rebbe
and tried to plead with R Groner,
the Rebbes secretary, but R
Groner said, This is the Rebbes
answer. You cant ask again.
What the Rebbe says, goes!
Having no choice, R Einhorn
did as he was told. When the
woman heard that the rabbi
would take the sins from her, she
had no problem agreeing. The get
was arranged and the woman was
released from her marriage. She
returned home happily, hoping to
remarry.
R Einhorn returned home
in a highly disturbed frame of
mind. A sack full of terrible sins
weighed upon him. How would
he find peace for his soul?
He entered Shabbos in low
spirits. He was bereft of all joy.
He could not sleep. He felt he
could not handle what he had
gone through. On Motzaei
Shabbos he decided he must go
and see the Rebbe.
Without much delay and
preparations he ordered a ticket
for that day. He took a small
suitcase and boarded a plane
for New York. He hoped to find
consolation upon seeing the
Rebbes face.
Sunday morning, when he
stood before the Rebbe on line
for dollars, the Rebbe asked him,
Can I take half the sins that you
took?
R Einhorn was
thunderstruck. In a flash, all his
distressed feelings left him and
his heart filled with joy; joy over
the zchus of helping a Jewish
woman, joy in being the Rebbes
shliach.
909_bm_eng.indd 39 2013-12-30 12:09:38 PM
THE CUCUMBERS
ROSE UP AND HIT
THE GARDENER
In the Hebrew Wikipedia, the title is explained
as an idiom which means when a young student
tries to teach his learned and experienced
teacher. Sometimes the student turns out to
be a fool who would be better off listening to
his elders, but sometimes the young student
actually comes up with good ideas. How does
this tie in with the hisgalus of Chassidus and the
avoda of shlichus? Read on...
By Rabbi Yaakov Shmuelevitz
Shliach, Beit Shaan
THE DONKEY
IN THREE ERAS
In a sicha on Parshas Shmos,
the Rebbe focuses on Rashis
comment about the donkey that
Moshe Rabbeinu took to go to
Egypt. Rashi says this was the
donkey that Avrohom Avinu
saddled for the Akeidas Yitzchok
and it is also the donkey that
Moshiach will ride on, as it says,
a poor man and riding on a
donkey.
Rashi is alluding here to three
different eras in which the Jewish
people can have mastery over
the materiality (from the same
Hebrew root as donkey) of the
world. In the era of Avrohom,
before the giving of the Torah, it
was only possible to saddle the
donkey, to subdue materiality
so it would not interfere with
the service of Hashem. In the
era of Moshe, Mattan Torah, it
was possible to have his wife and
children ride the donkey, i.e. to
use materiality in the service of
Hashem. In the era of Geula,
materiality will be refined to the
extent that Moshiach himself will
achieve greatness and progress by
way of the material, and riding
on a donkey.
If we take this idea and apply
it to shlichus, we can say that
nowadays, in the final moments
of galus where Moshiachs
activities in the world are already
apparent, we can see that even the
donkey (and each person can
interpret for himself, according
to the stories that follow, who
and what is a donkey) is ready
for the Geula and helps complete
the only remaining avoda of
shlichus and hasten the Geula.
STORIES
909_bm_eng.indd 40 2013-12-30 12:09:38 PM
We just need to ensure that
the donkey knows that it is a
donkey and will not try to dictate
to us so it wont be a case of the
cucumbers rose up and hit the
gardener.
WHEN R REUVEN TAUGHT
R Reuven Dunin ah once
went to farbreng with the
bachurim in the Chabad yeshiva
in Lud. Between the discussions,
the bachurim sang sweet
Chassidishe niggunim. One of
the young bachurim thought he
would decide when the niggun
should end, in his desire to hear
more from the mashpia.
At a certain point, the
young bachur emitted a long
sssshhhhhhhh. Unfortunately for
him, R Dunin noticed him doing
this and did not like it at all. The
young bachur had the privilege of
R Dunin dedicating a personal
story to him.
One time there was a young
bachur who went to yeshiva
to learn. The bachur learned
diligently, and did not eat or sleep
much so he could spend more
time learning. He eventually
became sick as a result. The
doctor urgently recommended
that the bachur spend a week or
two in the country air.
So the bachur went to a
farm belonging to some uncle
somewhere in the mountains. The
goodhearted uncle welcomed the
bachur and showed him around
the farm. Here are the horses,
pointed the uncle, and here are
the cows. Here are the chickens
and there are the fields.
The uncle and the bachur
came across a newborn foal
born just a week earlier. What
is that? asked the bachur
curiously. Thats a foal, a young
donkey. The yeshiva bachur, for
whom this was the first time he
was seeing such a young donkey,
was in shock.
What are you marveling
at? wondered the uncle.
I am marveling at how he
is so small but he is already a
donkey.
R Dunin caressed the
shoulder of the bachur who had
shushed the others and said,
You are still young. Dont be a
donkey already now.
In other words, let the people
who ought to run things, do what
they are supposed to do.
THE CONTRAST BETWEEN
CHASSIDUS AND MUSAR
In the Igros Kodesh of the
Rebbe Rayatz he brings the story
of the Chassid of the Tzemach
Tzedek who reviewed a deep
maamer of the Rebbe in shul on
the topic of chesed of chesed.
All present were impressed by the
Chassidic explanation.
In the shul there was an
old Litvak who dismissed the
excitement over the Chassidic
explanation. He gave his own
explanation of chesed of
chesed which went like this:
When you give a torn shoe to a
poor man, thats a chesed. When
you also give him a nail to fix the
shoe, that is chesed of chesed.
I spent Shabbos Parshas
VaYigash in Bayit Vegan in
Yerushalayim. Before Shacharis
a few of us Chassidim sat
together and learned the maamer
VaYigash Eilav Yehuda from
Torah Ohr. R Yaakov Friedman,
a Lubavitcher in Bayit Vegan,
read and explained the maamer,
chapter after chapter, until a
clear picture emerged:
Yosef represents increase and
R Reuven Dunin at a farbrengen
909_bm_eng.indd 41 2013-12-30 12:09:40 PM
growth and Yehuda represents
bittul. During galus, Yosef plays
the primary role and he is the
leader. In the time of Geula
however, Moshiach will be from
Yehuda. Based on this, at the end
of the maamer the Alter Rebbe
explains a story in the Gemara
that Hashem told Yerovam ben
Nevat (from the tribe of Yosef)
to do tshuva and I and you and
Ben Yishai will stroll together
in Gan Eden. Yerovam asked,
Who will lead? Hashem said,
Ben Yishai will lead. Yerovam
said, in that case, Im not
interested.
The Alter Rebbe explains
Yerovams refusal based on the
same idea, that Yerovam wanted
Yosef to be the leader in the
future too and Hashem told him
thats impossible, for Dovid
My servant will be their Nasi
forever.
A Litvishe yeshiva bachur
joined us and he felt a moral
obligation to give a different
explanation to the discussion
between Yerovam and Hashem.
As much as we tried to convince
him to listen to the Chassidic
explanation, he insisted on saying
the explanation that he knew
from the Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva, R
Chaim Shmuelevitz. In a simple
analysis of the two explanations,
one can see the difference
between the Musar and the
Chassidic approach.
R Chaim said, why did
Yerovam ask who will lead when
Hashem already told him, I and
you and Ben Yishai? Hashem
had already told him that he will
go ahead of Ben Yishai!
R Chaim answered, Yerovam
heard that he would be first (after
Hashem) but he so liked hearing
that that he wanted to hear it
again explicitly, from Hashem.
Thats how far one can go with
the midda of pride.
There, in Bayit Vegan, with
the Chassidic maamer on one
side and the musar explanation
on the other side, I understood
the meaning of and the young
students rose up and tried to
teach the experienced teacher.
WHAT A YOUNG BOY
CAN ACCOMPLISH
In Nes Tziyona there is
a small keilim mikva at the
entrance to the Chabad house
shul. The shliach, R Sagi Har
Shefer, realized years ago that
there was a need for a mikva like
this and he had a professional
build it as a public service. Nearly
all the hardware stores know
about this mikva and they tell
their customers about it, so that
many people benefit from the
service and are grateful to the
Chabad house.
One week, a woman came
laden with items to toivel and it
was apparent that this was the
first time she ever did anything
like this. She asked the people in
the Chabad house how to do it
and whether there is a prayer to
be said. R Menachem Feldman,
the Shliach Torah in the city,
gave her all the information she
needed.
As soon as he introduced
himself, she exclaimed, What?
Youre HaRav Menachem? Its
thanks to you that I came here.
R Feldman, a bit surprised,
asked, Where did we meet?
The woman said that her
thirteen year old son sometimes
attended R Feldmans class that
he gave at the public school.
Among the dozens of classes
that R Feldman gives, there
is a weekly class that takes
place in an elementary school.
Before every Rosh Chodesh the
topic of the class is about the
upcoming month. Her family
felt the difference. At first her
son began saying a bracha
before he ate anything. Then he
made sure there were mezuzos
up all over the house, that there
was a separation between meat
and milk, and most recently,
he announced that all kitchen
items made by a non-Jew had
to be immersed in a mikva. He
also knew about the mikva at
the Chabad house, And so, its
thanks to you that Ive come
here with all these things for the
mikva.
A CALF WITH FIVE EARS
R Noam Bar Tov is the
shliach and rabbi of Moshav
Balfouriya in the Jezreel Valley.
Among the classes he gives, he
learns with a veteran moshavnik,
a veterinarian and an expert on
raising cows and calves. They
learn three chapters of Rambam
together every day.
One day they learned in the
laws of Pesulei HaMukdashin
that any korban with an extra
limb like an extra foot or ear
was invalid. The professional vet
gently pointed out that in raising
and treating cows for thirty years
he had never seen a cow with an
extra ear.
The next day the vet called
R Bar Tov and told him in great
excitement that the day before,
after they learned, he was called
by one of the nearby kibbutzim
to come and help a cow give
birth. To his amazement and in
incredible hashgacha pratis, he
saw a calf emerge that had one
ear on the right side and four
ears on the left.
R Bar Tov asked the vet
for permission to publicize the
picture of the unusual calf. This
made a Kiddush Hashem to show
that the Torah is a Toras Emes.
STORIES
909_bm_eng.indd 42 2013-12-30 12:09:40 PM

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